THANE: The Thane unit of the Maharashtra Excise department has issued a notice to Narcotics Control Bureau Mumbai zonal chief Sameer Wankhede in connection with a eatery owned by him, an official said on Tuesday.
The routine notice was issued to Wankhede on December 10 after documents available with the department did not include proof of age at the time when he got a licence for the eatery in Vashi in Navi Mumbai in 1997, State Excise Superintendent (Thane) Nilesh Sangde said.
"The notice was issued under section 54(1)(k) of Mumbai Prohibition Act. Wankhede has been given seven days time to submit a written reply to the notice. After the reply is received from him, it will be placed before the collector for an appropriate decision," Sangde said.
Wankhede refused to comment on the excise department action.
Earlier, Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik had alleged that Wankhede got the licence for the eatery in 1997, when he was around 17 years of age, which made him a minor and, therefore, ineligible to obtain this document.