The Bombay High Court has declined to grant an urgent hearing to IRS officer Sameer Wankhede, who sought immediate judicial intervention after the Central Administrative Tribunal dismissed his plea last week. Wankhede is challenging adverse remarks and downgraded gradings in his Annual Performance Appraisal Report for the period during which he led the high-profile 2021 Cordelia cruise drug raid.
Appearing for Wankhede, Advocate Atharva Date argued that the matter required priority because promotions for the 2008 batch of IRS officers to the rank of Commissioner are set for December 31, 2025. With the Departmental Promotion Committee expected to finalise and forward its recommendations shortly, Date said any delay could have a direct impact on Wankhede’s career progression. He highlighted that Wankhede has maintained an “impeccable service record” with a 9.75 average grading and 26 awards before the contested remarks.
The bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam A. Ankhad, however, refused to expedite the hearing, observing that the case did not present circumstances requiring immediate intervention. The court said it would consider the matter in the regular course.
Wankhede had originally approached the CAT seeking the removal of comments made by his reviewing officer in the APAR covering July 2021 to January 2022—the period when he oversaw the Narcotics Control Bureau’s raid on the Cordelia cruise ship, leading to the arrest of Aryan Khan. Although no drugs were found on Aryan Khan himself, small quantities were allegedly recovered from others in the group. The case later escalated amid allegations of a ₹25-crore bribe demand, leading to a transfer of the investigation and eventually a CBI probe. Aryan Khan was ultimately not charge-sheeted.
