New Delhi [India], March 26 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to interfere with the Delhi High Court order that had paved way for the the Union government and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) to proceed with the disciplinary proceedings against Indian Revenue Services (IRS) officer Sameer Dayanand Wankhede linked to the 2021 Cordelia cruise drug seizure case, during his tenure as a Zonal Director with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

Noting that the authorities had appointed an Inquiry Officer as well as a Presiding Officer with respect to the inquiry against Wankhede without affording him time to file his response to the chargesheet, a bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe allowed Wankhede to file his response within two weeks time and directed the respondent authorities to decide afresh the appointment of the inquiry officers after considering the civil servant's reply.

'While we are not inclined to interfere with the order passed by the High Court, we are of the opinion that the appointment of the Inquiry Officer as well as the Presenting Officer on 07.03.2026 is without affording sufficient opportunity to the petitioner to file reply to the chargesheet. For this reason, we permit the petitioner to represent himself and file a reply to the chargesheet within two weeks from today. The respondent(s) will take thedecision after considering the reply of the petitioner whether or not to appoint an Inquiry Officer as well as the Presenting Officer within two weeks thereafter', the Court noted.

The Court clarified that it has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the matter, as it refused to interfere with the Delhi HC order that quashed relief to Wankhede.

The Delhi High Court had on February 27 overturned a decision of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) that had quashed disciplinary proceedings against Wankhede.

A bench of High Court Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Amit Mahajan held that CAT should not have interfered at the stage when only a charge memorandum been issued.

The High Court had observed that a charge memo is merely the beginning of disciplinary proceedings and does not amount to a finding of guilt. Therefore, it noted, judicial intervention at such an early stage should be rare and limited to exceptional cases.

The disciplinary action against Wankhede is linked to developments arising out of the 2021 Cordelia cruise drug seizure case, during his tenure as a Zonal Director with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). The case had drawn nationwide attention after the arrest of Aryan Khan, the son of actor Shah Rukh Khan linked to cruise drug seizure. (ANI)