State Govt To Give 3-Day Notice Before Coercive Action: HC on Wankhede's Plea

Wankhede had questioned why a parallel probe is being conducted if NCB officials are investigating the allegations.

NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede outside the NCB office.

(Photo Courtesy: Viral Bhayani)

Bombay High Court on Thursday, 28 October, granted relief to Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sameer Wankhede, who has been linked to a Rs 8 crore pay-off, and had sought protection from any coercive action during probe initiated by the Maharashtra government’s Special Investigation Team (SIT).

A bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and SV Kotwal ordered the state government to not take any drastic action at the moment and to give three days' prior notice before taking any coercive action against Wankhede.

Wankhede, in a petition filed before the high court for protection, had questioned why a parallel probe was being conducted if the senior NCB officials were investigating the allegations against him, seeking for the investigation to be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Disposing the petition, the court noted that it has not ruled on the basis of the merits in the case.

What Wankhede's Counsel Said

Representing the NCB official, Senior Advocate Atul Nanda and counsel Rameeza Hakeem submitted that Wankhede is apprehending that the Mumbai Police will arrest him.

"If Mumbai Police arrests me today, which is my apprehension, milords should not wait till the State flouts my rights," the counsel said, Bar and Bench reported.

Wankhede's counsel further asserted that the drug agency officer is not a drug peddler.

Background

On Wednesday, the Mumbai Police appointed a four-member team, supervised by Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP) Dilip Sawant, to investigate the charges of extortion levelled against Wankhede.

As per the official order released by the police, the panel is probing four separate complaints of bribery filed at the MRA Marg Police Station – one by Prabhakar Sail, a key witness, and others by Advocate Sudha Dwivedi, one Kanishk Jain, and one Nitin Deshmukh.

The extortion complaints surfaced when key witness, Prabhakar Sail, alleged in an affidavit that Wankhede asked him to sign as panch witness of the drugs case.

He further claimed that his signature was taken on 10 blank papers, and said that he overheard discussions of a Rs 18 crore deal between KP Gosavi and one Sam D'Souza.

The anti-drugs agency had ordered a vigilance inquiry after the bribery allegations.