Some news and questions related to Sameer Wankhede | Part 1
Let's dive into the first part of some news and questions related to Sameer Dnyandev Wankhede in this article written by Rudrabha Mukherjee.
Disclaimers & Disclosures
Chapters
CBI booked Sameer Wankhede
Sameer Wankhede skipped CBI questioning or summons for the first time, as per May 18, 2023 news reports
Sameer Wankhede said he has full faith in the CBI and the central government
Sameer Wankhede skipped CBI questioning or summons for the second time, citing personal reasons
Sameer Wankhede’s amendment plea (June, 2023) against the alleged extortion and corruption case filed (FIR registered) by the CBI
My humble questions related to Sameer Wankhede
1. CBI booked Sameer Wankhede
Around May 12, 2023, I (Rudrabha Mukherjee) came across a few news articles stating that Sameer Wankhede/Sameer Dnyandev Wankhede got booked by the CBI (as per the Hindustan Times1, Republic World2, and many other news portals) on the alleged charges of criminal conspiracy, corruption, and other serious offences, and that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered an official FIR (FIR No. RC2172023A0008) on May 11, 2023, against him3 (Sameer Dnyandev Wankhede/Sameer Wankhede) and some other people as well on the complaint of the Supritendent of the Vigilance section of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Headquarters.
Just for your information, NCB comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs is a ministry of the Government of India.
So being an activist (who stands in support of honest officers and honest bureaucrats and strictly against the corrupt officers and corrupt bureaucrats in general)
and supporter of citizen journalism,
I decided to follow these latest developments and news related to Sameer Dnyandev Wankhede/Sameer Wankhede.
2. Sameer Wankhede skipped CBI questioning or summons for the first time, as per May 18, 2023 news reports
As per news reports dated May 18, 2023, of Metro Vaartha, Business Standard, The Hindu, The Economic Times, and CNBCTv18, former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sameer Wankhede skipped CBI questioning or summons.
According to the news portal sources, Sameer Wankhede did not show up for interrogation on Thursday, and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will decide the next step.
I guess these news sites are probably referring to May 18, 2023, which was a Thursday.
3. Sameer Wankhede said he has full faith in the CBI and the central government
On May 19, 2023, ABP News uploaded a video to their YouTube channel with the title - “Chat वायरल होने के बाद बोले Sameer Wankhede- 'कुछ विकृत लोग थे जो...' | Aryan Khan drug case”.
In this video, Sameer Wankhede said that he has full trust in the central government and also in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI4).
Also, on the same day, ANI News uploaded a video to their YouTube channel with the title - “Aryan Khan bribery case: Delhi HC grants protection from arrest till May 22 to Sameer Wankhede”.
Sameer Wankhede said the same thing, that he has full trust in the central government and also in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in this video as well.
On the same day, that is on May 19, 2023,
news sites like Republic World5 and Mid-Day6 published the news with the title - “Cordelia Cruise Drugs Case | Sameer Wankhede moves Bombay HC against CBI; seeks quashing of FIR in bribery case” and “Sameer Wankhede moves Bombay HC to seek quashing of CBI FIR against him” respectively.
4. Sameer Wankhede skipped CBI questioning or summons for the second time, citing personal reasons
As per news reports dated May 24, 2023 and May 25, 2023, of Hindustan Times, The Free Press Journal, The Times of India, and Mumbai Live, former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sameer Wankhede skipped CBI questioning or statement recording session on May 24, 2023, as well, without giving any exact reason but citing personal reasons.
5. Sameer Wankhede’s amendment plea (June, 2023) against the alleged extortion and corruption case filed (FIR registered) by the CBI
As per the news report published in The Times of India (by Swati Deshpande), Sameer Wankhede filed the amendment plea as follows (quoting a part of it, here you can read the full version of the news):
Quote
Sameer Wankhede filed an amendment plea to add new grounds in his quashing petition against the alleged extortion-corruption case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) linked to the October 2021 Cordelia cruise drug bust by the NCB.
Sameer Wankhede said the prior sanction issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) last month is “bad in law” and should be set aside as it lacked jurisdiction.
Sameer Wankhede further said that he wished to place on record chats exchanged with an officer of NCB with whom he was in constant touch in the October 2021 related to Cordelia Cruise raid case, in which the CBI has now sought to “falsely implicate” him.
Unquote
6. My humble questions related to Sameer Wankhede
Recently, a few months ago, our Hon'ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, praised the CBI at its diamond jubilee celebrations and called it a 'Brand For Truth And Justice’7.
Anyway, with no disrespect to Sameer Wankhede or anyone else, I have a few very humble questions related to Sameer Wankhede based on the publicly available news reports and some official documents like an official copy of the FIR, etc.
Q. 1. Why did he skip the summons or rounds of questioning or the statement recording session of the CBI earlier? That's too for 2 times, reportedly. Why?
Q.2. Why did Sameer Wankhede reportedly say, in his June 2023 amendment plea, while showing his wish to place on record chats exchanged with an NCB officer with whom he was in constant touch in the October 2021 Cordelia cruise raid case, that the CBI has now sought to "falsely implicate" him in this?
Context for Q.1 and Q.2: Sameer Wankhede said that he has full trust or faith in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Q. 3. Why did he approach the Hon'ble High Court against the CBI FIR and request to quash the CBI FIR? Which kind of trust is this?
Context for Q.3: The Hon’ble High Courts are already overloaded with many pending cases. Many common citizens are still waiting for justice. When Sameer Wankhede has full faith in the CBI, he must have followed their due process without raising any objection to the FIR.
Q. 4. Why did he reportedly say in his amendment plea that the prior sanction issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) last month is "bad in law"? Which kind of trust is this?
Context for Q.4: Sameer Wankhede said that he has full trust or faith in the “Central Government”. Interestingly, the Ministry of Home Affairs, or simply the Home Ministry, is a ministry of the Government of India. And for those who don't know, the Government of India, also known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national authority of the Republic of India.
Ending Note
I wanted to write and publish this article a few days ago, but it got delayed. I will share the reasons behind the same with supporting evidence soon in my future podcast episode on the Rudrabha Podcast Show.
Stay tuned :)
Thanks for giving your valuable time. I am really grateful to you for the same.
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Following are the sources and references for this article, i.e., “Some news and questions related to Sameer Wankhede | Part 1”:
Official copy of CBI FIR against Sameer Wankhede and others: FIR No. RC2172023A0008