Sameer Wankhede seeks CBI probe against NCP’s Nawab Malik in defamation case

IRS officer Sameer Wankhede has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court, seeking the transfer of a probe into a defamation case that he had registered in Mumbai against NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) candidate Nawab Malik in 2022, to the CBI.
Wankhede’s plea, filed through advocate Sana Raees Khan, sought a court-monitored investigation by the CBI or any other independent investigating agency. It stated that Wankhede was aggrieved that Malik had not been arrested by Mumbai Police despite an FIR filed against him.
The plea sought the addition of some sections of Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes Act against Malik.
Wankhede, the former NCB zonal director, is currently posted as Additional Commissioner Director General of Taxpayer Services (DGTS) and belongs to the Scheduled Caste as he claims to be from the Mahar caste.
The plea also sought that the court direct the Goregaon Police to submit a report detailing the steps taken for investigation pursuant to the filing of FIR.
Wankhede had registered the FIR in 2022 with Goregaon Police Station against Malik, alleging that the politician had defamed him and his family on all platforms of social media and television by humiliating him based on his caste and race.
Wankhede had even lodged a complaint with the Scheduled Caste Commission in Delhi in October 2021.
It all began in January 2021, when Wankhede, then the zonal director of NCB, had arrested Sameer Khan, Malik’s son-in-law. Wankhede alleged Malik started making “slanderous remarks against him and his caste” after Khan’s arrest.
Wankhede’s father had filed a suit in 2021 against Malik before the Bombay High Court, following which an interlocutory order was passed restraining the NCP leader from uttering any defamatory word against Wankhede and his family. However, Malik allegedly did not adhere to the order due to which a contempt petition was filed.
The IRS officer claimed that Malik again made defamatory remarks against him in an interview on October 27, alleging that the authenticity of his caste certificate was bogus. Wankhede contended that Malik’s remarks damaged and harmed his reputation despite an order restraining the NCP leader from making comments against the IRS officer’s family.
The plea alleged that Malik continued to commit the offence of defaming Wankhede till date and that his conduct “clearly showed no fear of the court of law”.
“Despite an order, he continues to commit further offence and violate the order of the highest court of the state. That, this very act of the accused (Malik) is not just criminal but contemptuous in nature and has to be dealt with iron hands,” it said.