FIR against Wankhede for cheating, forgery

Sameer Wankhede at NCB’s Mumbai office last year. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Controversial IRS officer and former NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede has been booked by the Thane police for allegedly giving false information to the government in an affidavit to secure a bar licence. On a complaint from the state excise department, the Kopri police have booked Wankhede for cheating and forgery. Wankhede told mid-day he was paying the price for doing his duty with "honesty and integrity". Earlier this month, Thane Collector Rajesh Narvekar had cancelled the licence, claiming it had been obtained by wilful misrepresentation of facts or fraud.

Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik, who had levelled several allegations against Wankhede after the arrest of actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, had also claimed that Wankhede had a bar licence since the age of 17, when he was a minor, but never disclosed it to the government after joining services. Malik had also complained about it to the state government. The minister had alleged that Wankhede's father, who retired as an excise officer, might have manipulated documents for the bar and permit room licence. As Malik's claims and complaint triggered a controversy, the excise department issued several notices to Wankhede and heard the matter. Later, the district collector cancelled the licence saying it was granted to Wankhede on October 27, 1997, when he was less than 18 years of age. The permissible age for such a licence is 21 years.

Scrutiny of documents, excise officials said, has shown that Wankhede had misled the government and submitted a false affidavit about his age. The affidavit submitted by Wankhede in October 1997 has no mention of his birth date but it says that he is an adult. In his complaint to Kopri police, excise officer Satyan Gogavle said, "Wankhede deliberately avoided sharing his date of birth in an affidavit submitted in 1997, otherwise it would have revealed that he was minor and the licence wouldn't have been issued in his name at that time." The FIR also talks about Wankhede forging various affidavits and stamp papers to obtain the licence.

Officer responds

"It's quite surprising and painful to know that the matter is being coined after 25 years. We will surely go for a legal option, as the matter is sub-judice. But I would reiterate that neither I nor my mother has submitted a forged document. How can a minor child submit a fake document to manipulate government machinery? Is it possible? Also, it's not a bar, it was a family restaurant." Wankhede told mid-day. "This is the price for doing your duty with honesty and integrity."

With inputs by Diwakar Sharma