Sameer Wankhede. File | Photo credit: PTI
The Delhi High Court on Friday (Oct 17, 2025) imposed a cost of ₹20,000 on the central government for concealing certain facts in its review petition against the promotion order of IRS officer and former NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede.
A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Madhu Jain said they expected the Center to disclose all the facts truthfully before filing the suit.
It rejected the Centre’s plea seeking a review of the court’s August 28 order directing the government to find out the UPSC’s recommendation for Mr. Wankhede’s promotion and promote him if there was such commendation.
“We would expect the petitioner, as a government as a state, to truthfully disclose all the facts before us while filing the suit. On the above petition, we dismiss the petition with costs of ₹20,000 to be deposited with the Delhi High Court Welfare Fund,” the court ordered.
Mr Wankhede, a 2008-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, made headlines for allegedly demanding ₹25 crore from Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s family by threatening to implicate his son Aryan Khan in a drug-related case during his tenure with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB, 2021), Mumbai.
In a verdict on August 28, the Supreme Court upheld the December 2024 decision of the Central Administrative Tribunal, which directed the government to open the sealed cover regarding Mr. Wankhede’s promotion and, if his name was recommended by the UPSC, promote him to the post of Additional Commissioner with effect from January 1, 2021.
The Center approached the High Court, arguing that Mr. Wankhede’s case was placed under a sealed cover due to the cases filed against him.
The objection was opposed by counsel for Mr Wankhede, who sought dismissal of the centre’s petition on the grounds that it was a tactic to harass the officer.
The counsel said that though the promotion order was issued in January 2021, the Center delayed its implementation by several months and challenged the CAT decision only after Mr Wankhede initiated contempt proceedings.
He further alleged that the Center had concealed in its review application the fact that the CAT, through its order in August, had barred him from further pursuing the ministerial inquiry against Mr. Wankhede.
Published – 17 Oct 2025 21:31 IST
