It is very difficult to be an honest courageous officer in the world of pressure, politics and vertical instructions. While the youth chooses to be a public servant, many end up being political servants with passing years, and that is when the decline hits hard. Generally, we must observe, that when big cases involving celebrities, politicians and issues arise, the conclusion is always a sacrifice of some public servant. This is a very common phenomenon. Very rarely we some heroes holding on tight to their morals and fighting their battles against the system with pride and strong principles. Sameer Wankhede is one of those officers who refused to give up to allegations and pressure irrespective of being put under extreme turbulence.
The world functions on the ecosystem of trust and unity. If your people decide to put you under the bus it becomes difficult to trust anyone. Subordinates co-ordinates, bosses and associates must remember this and refrain from destroying the people who once were their support system. This not just applies to Government departments but to corporates and groups across sectors. We look up to our bosses, and seniors, and take lessons from them, but when your idols turn hostile, your whole identity can scream out due to an identity crisis. That is exactly what happens to honest people in today’s times. NCB Deputy General Gyaneshwar Singh chose to be a judge in his case, concluded that Sameer Wankhede should be an accused and escaped being questioned for his involvement in the whole Cordelia cruise case. Many innocent are crushed under the power of those who always want to be judges, but never take responsibility for the happenings around them. It is on us to identify, who is a public servant here and who is a political servant.
The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) recently ruled that NCB Deputy Director General Gyaneshwar Singh was actively involved in the Cordelia cruise drug bust investigation and could not have been a member of the special enquiry team (SET). On Tuesday, Sameer Wankhede, a former zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), informed the Bombay High Court of this.
Based on the report of the SET led by Singh, which was established to look into any procedural violations by NCB employees including Wankhede, the CBI has filed a bribery FIR against Wankhede and others.
Aryan Khan, the son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, was given a pass by the aforementioned SET for “suppressing material information and evidence in violation of legal provisions,” Wankhede had informed the bench.
The CBI FIR relates to the alleged Rs 25 crore payment that Wankhede and others reportedly demanded from Aryan Khan and others detained in connection with the 2021 Cordelia drug raid case.
Wankhede’s appeal of the CBI FIR was being heard by a division bench of Justices Nitin W. Sambre and Rajesh S. Patil, who permitted him to record the CAT’s decision through an additional affidavit. They also scheduled the appeal hearing for September 6th.
Wankhede’s temporary protection from arrest had been renewed by the HC on August 21 till September 7.
On August 21, the principal bench of the CAT—chaired by Justice Ranjit More and included Justice Anand Mathur—passed an order regarding the initial motion by Wankhede seeking to quash the SET report from June 2022. Wankhede has asserted that Singh actively oversaw the Cordelia case probe in his role as the NCB’s then-in-charge DDG of the South-West Region.
The Tribunal read the WhatsApp conversation between Wankhede and Singh and noted that between October 3 and October 12, 2021, Singh spoke with the petitioner Wankhede.
In addition to supervising and instructing the applicant on the investigation into the alleged crime, respondent Singh also provided him with the plan of action through this WhatsApp chat, the Tribunal noted.
As the CAT noted, “Respondent Singh, in our opinion, being actively involved in the probe could not have been part of SET, which was constituted to hold an enquiry for the alleged procedural lapses on the part of officials during the seizure on Cordelia, and follow up action in connection with the aforesaid crime.”
While we have had many cases on for years, many undertrials getting old shuttling between their workplaces and courts, some privileged people related to known personalities get their cases closed and also get clean chit within no time with the blessings of the political servants. And the public and public servants suffer, and suffocate attending court dates in the hustle of proving that they are innocent.
Considering the law of justice, the Public and the public servant will surely win the battle of vertical instructions and coverup.
Read the Order :
file:///Users/swapnapatker/Downloads/110720082932022-d1f35d08ecfb67035cf9cc0063f6f010.pdf.pdf
