NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday allowed the continuation of disciplinary proceedings against IRS officer Sameer Wankhede in connection with the Cordelia cruise drugs case of 2021.
Wankhede, a 2008 batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, was in the news for allegedly demanding `25 crore from Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan by threatening to implicate his son Aryan in the alleged drug bust case on the cruise during his tenure in the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai in 2021.
The NCB had searched the Goa-bound cruise ship on its return to Mumbai two days after a drugs party onboard the vessel was busted off the city coast. Aryan was even arrested by the NCB in the case on charges of attempting consumption of drugs, possession, abetment and conspiracy of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The NCB had claimed to have seized 13 grams of cocaine, 5 grams of mephedrone MD, 21 gram charas and 22 pills of MDMA ecstasy in the raid.
A bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Amit Mahajan passed the order while allowing the Centre’s plea against an order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), which had on January 19 quashed the disciplinary proceedings against the IRS officer.
On January 12, earlier this year the HC had refused to interfere with the CAT’s interim order that had stayed the disciplinary proceedings. However, at that time, the High Court had asked the Tribunal to make “sincere efforts” to decide the main matter on 14 January or within the next 10 days.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) had started the disciplinary proceedings against Wankhede.It stemmed from allegations linked to a preliminary inquiry conducted by a Special Enquiry Team (SET), which examined complaints against the IRS officer following his role in the high-profile 2021 cruise case.
Wankhede had contended before the court that the findings of the preliminary inquiry could not be used as the basis for formal disciplinary action and that the CBIC had failed to follow due process.
He added that the charge memorandum issued to him on August 18, 2025, by the CBIC “was arbitrary, legally unsustainable and motivated by malice ”. While quashing the disciplinary proceedings, the CAT agreed with Wankhede’s submissions and observed that the government acted against the officer in a biased manner, and their actions seemed to be borne out of malice.
In their plea before the High Court, the Union government and CBIC argued that the Tribunal exceeded its jurisdiction by interfering at the stage of issuance of charges. They also objected to the CAT attributing malice and motive to the government’s actions.
The investigating agency had given a clean chit to Aryan stating that no evidence was found during investigation that made him a part of the cruise drugs conspiracy. Aryan was not in possession of any drugs and also he was not taken for a medical test, which would show whether he had consumed any drugs, agency had said.