The Delhi high court has given its approval to the continuation of disciplinary proceedings inquiry against IRS officer Sameer Wankhede in connection with the high-profile 2021 Cordelia cruise drugs case. Shah Rukh Khan’s son, Aryan Khan, had been arrested by Wankhede in the same case but the chargesheet had later given Aryan a clean chit.
A division bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Amit Mahajan set aside a January order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) which had quashed the disciplinary action, saying that the Tribunal had gone too far in intervening at the early stage when only a charge memorandum had been issued.
The disciplinary proceedings had been initiated by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) in August 2025 and they relate to allegations that Sameer Wankhede sought confidential information and assurances to steer the investigation after he was relieved from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
The high court order allows the government and the CBIC to proceed with the inquiry, underscoring that departmental action should usually not be stopped at its outset and that merits can be examined during the course of the formal process.