HC refuses pressing listening to on Sameer Wankhede’s plea in quest of recovery of liquor license

By means of PTI

MUMBAI: The Bombay Prime Courtroom on Tuesday expressed anger over how a petition filed the day before today by way of NCB’s former Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede was once indexed for listening to with out the courtroom allowing the similar.

A department bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Madhav Jamdar refused to grant listening to at the petition, announcing there was once no urgency.

Wankhede, a 2008 batch IRS officer, filed a petition on Monday difficult an order handed by way of the Thane Excise Collector cancelling the liquor license of his eating place and bar in Navi Mumbai, and sought recovery of the cancelled license.

“How come this petition is indexed as of late when it was once no longer discussed prior to us on Monday? We now have no longer allowed it,” Justice Patel stated.

Wankhede’s recommend Veena Thadani advised the courtroom that they had been ready to say the subject on Monday, however the courtroom workforce stated it might be indexed on Tuesday.

The bench then warned the courtroom workforce from doing so.

“A deficient particular person recordsdata a petition and their subject isn’t taken up for listening to, and when an influential particular person recordsdata a petition, their plea is indexed for listening to in an instant,” Justice Jamdar stated.

“What’s the grave urgency? What heavens will fall?” the bench requested.

Recommend Feroze Bharucha, showing for Maharashtra cupboard minister Nawab Malik, who’s a respondent within the case, sought a duplicate of the petition and time to reply to the similar.

“There are allegations and false statements made towards the minister,” Bharucha stated.

The courtroom then stated it was once no longer going to grant any pressing listening to to the petition and that it is going to be taken up for listening to sooner or later.

“Simply since you two (Wankhede and Malik) are having a disagreement within the media, we need to grant pressing listening to?” Justice Patel requested.

Wankhede within the petition claimed that movements initiated towards him had been vindictive as he had arrested Malik’s son-in-law in a medication case when he was once heading the Mumbai Narcotics Keep an eye on Bureau (NCB) unit.

He additional claimed that the motion was once taken towards him by way of the state Excise Division and the police beneath “political drive”.

As according to the petition, the license was once granted in October 1997 and was once renewed over and over until 2021.

“After my shopper (Wankhede) arrested minister Nawab Malik’s son-in-law in a medication case, the minister wrote a letter in November 2021 to the Thane Excise Collector elevating questions at the license,” Wankhede’s recommend Vishal Thadani stated.

Pursuant to the letter, an inquiry was once initiated and 3 show-cause notices had been issued to Wankhede.

A listening to was once given and the license was once then cancelled.

Therefore, he (Wankhede) has moved the top courtroom difficult the cancellation and to hunt recovery of the license, Thadani stated.

Wankhede had appealed to the state Excise Commissioner, who it seems that orally refused to stick the order.

In his petition, Wankhede stated he can’t be blamed for no longer disclosing his age, for the reason that regulations don’t prescribe the age whilst making use of for the FL III (overseas liquor) license, and the applying shape does no longer supply for disclosure of the applicant’s age.

In step with Wankhede’s plea, FL III licence is granted for 365 days at a time and is an annual contract between the person and the state and therefore, the licence granted in 1997 got here to an lead to 1998.

Wankhede in his plea stated he grew to become 18 on December 14, 1997 and thereafter, the licence has been renewed for 23 years annually.