NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday approved the continuation of disciplinary proceedings against IRS officer Sameer Wankhede in connection with the 2021 Cordelia cruise drugs case.
A bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Amit Mahajan allowed the Centre’s plea against a Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order that had quashed the disciplinary proceedings against Wankhede.
“This petition is allowed,” the bench said while pronouncing the verdict. A detailed copy of the judgement is awaited.
The central government had challenged the CAT order passed on 19 January, which had nullified the ‘Charge Memorandum’ issued to Wankhede on 18 August 2025 by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.
Wankhede, a 2008-batch Indian Revenue Service officer, came under the spotlight for allegedly demanding Rs 25 crore from Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s family by threatening to implicate his son Aryan Khan in the Cordelia cruise drug bust case during his tenure at the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai in 2021.
Before the CAT, Wankhede filed an original application challenging the disciplinary inquiry by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, alleging that he was accused of seeking confidential information related to the probe from the NCB’s legal department after being relieved from the agency.
It was also alleged that he sought an “assurance” from the NCB legal officer to “steer the investigation” in the probe.
On 12 January, the High Court had refused to interfere with the CAT’s order staying the disciplinary proceedings but asked the tribunal to make “sincere efforts” to decide the main matter on 14 January or within the next 10 days.