Sameer Wankhede moves HC for quashing of FIR, seeks restoration of cancelled liquor license
India Today
IRS officer and former NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede has moved the Bombay HC seeking the quashing of an FIR against him for obtaining a liquor license using forged documents.
Former Mumbai NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede on Monday filed two separate petitions in the Bombay High Court urging quashing of the FIR registered against him by Thane police for obtaining a liquor license for a hotel by alleged forgery and also sought restoration of the cancelled license.
Wankhede claimed that actions initiated against him were vindictive as he had arrested Maharashtra cabinet minister Nawab Malik's son-in-law in a drugs case when he was heading the Mumbai Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) unit.
The plea for quashing of the FIR will be heard by a division bench headed by Justice S S Shinde on Tuesday. The civil petition seeking restoration of the license will be heard by a division bench headed by Justice G S Patel on Tuesday.
READ: Mumbai drugs bust case: Former NCB zonal chief Sameer Wankhede called again for questioning
In the quashing petition, Wankhede has sought interim protection from arrest.
In both of the pleas, Wankhede, who is a 2008-batch IRS officer, has stated that the action taken against him is out of malice and vindictive as he, during his tenure as NCB's zonal director for Mumbai, had arrested Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik's son-in-law in a drugs case.
Wankhede's advocate Vishal Thadani said the action was taken against the NCB officer by the state Excise Department and the police under political pressure.
