Atrocities case: Wankhede moves HC seeking probe against Nawab Malik

Sameer Wankhede, former zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), has urged the Bombay High Court to transfer the probe into an atrocities case against NCP leader Nawab Malik to an independent agency like the CBI.

Wankhede, an additional commissioner in the Directorate General of Taxpayer Services and a member of the Mahar Scheduled Caste, alleged in his plea that police inaction in the matter has caused him and his family significant mental distress and humiliation.

The Indian Revenue Services (IRS) officer had in August 2022 lodged a complaint with the suburban Goregaon police against Malik under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The complaint alleged that Malik had during interviews and on social media made defamatory remarks against Wankhede and his family members based on his caste.

Malik has neither been arrested in the case nor has the chargesheet been filed till date.

In his petition filed on November 20 in HC, Wankhede claimed that the police have not probed the matter yet. He has sought the case to be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The IRS officer also sought for the probe to be monitored by the court.

The petition is likely to be taken up for hearing on November 28.

The lackadaisical approach of the police machinery has caused grave injustice to the pain and mental distress suffered by the petitioner (Wankhede) and his family members on being humiliated and defamed on the basis of their caste and race, the plea said.

It added that in 2021, Wankhede's father had filed a defamation suit in HC against Malik and the court had then directed the leader from the NCP, headed by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, to desist from making any further remarks.

Despite the restraining order, Malik continued to make slanderous and defamatory comments against Wankhede and his family members, the petition claimed.

The respondent no. 2 (Malik) wields political power and has hence influenced the police machinery and thereby tampering with the probe in the case, it added.

Wankhede claimed that Malik made the remarks after he arrested his son-in-law Sameer Khan in a drug case in 2021.

The IRS officer alleged that after Sameer Khan's arrest, Malik launched a sustained campaign to defame and humiliate him and his family on social media and television, targeting their caste and questioning the authenticity of Wankhede's caste certificate.

Earlier, the officer had also filed a complaint with the Scheduled Caste Commission in October 2021, seeking action against Malik.

Wankhede had come under the spotlight after his then NCB team arrested actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan following an alleged drug seizure on board the Cordelia cruise ship in Mumbai in October 2021. Aryan was granted bail by the high court after three weeks.