Former NCB director Wankhede moves Bombay HC against show-cause notice by caste scrutiny committee
Sameer Wankhede challenged the notice by stating that the committee failed to consider that the proceedings before it were inquisitorial rather than adversarial because it was not an adjudicatory body.
FollowFormer zonal director of  Narcotics Control Bureau, Sameer Wankhede, approached the Bombay High Court aiming to quash a notice issued by a caste certificate scrutiny committee to him. Mumbai's District Caste Scrutiny Committee had previously questioned Wankhede to show cause as to why his caste certificate should not be confiscated.
Sameer Wankhede challenged the notice by stating that the committee failed to consider that the proceedings before it were inquisitorial rather than adversarial because it was not an adjudicatory body.
Wankhede's caste was questioned by the Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik creating a huge controversy in the state.Â
The committee's notice came after Nawab Malik and a few others filed a complaint alleging that Wankhede's father was a Muslim and his name was 'Dawood.' They claimed that Wankhede was not entitled to the caste certificate that allowed him to be passed the UPSC and became an Indian Revenue Service officer.
Also, proving his claims, Nawab Malik shared Wankhede's birth certificate through his Twitter account.Â
As per Wankhede, he had received the caste certificate from the District Collector of the 'Mahar' community, a scheduled caste. He stated that any authority has never invalidated his caste certificate.
In his plea, Wankhede urged that due to the inadvertent errors in his birth certificate and school records, it is shown that his father's name was Dawood Wankhede, and he is Muslim by religion.Â
Wankhede's father had married his Muslim mother. But, on the other hand, Wankhede claimed that his father, who belonged to the Mahar community, had remained a Hindu and that his service record showed that his name was never changed and remained "Dnyandeo Wankhede."
Following Wankhede's petition to the Bombay High Court, on April 29, the committee issued him a show-cause notice. It stated that considering the complaints, documents, etc., it proves that Wankhede belongs to the Muslim community and follows the Muslim religion.Â
Wankhede's petition also stated that the notice was identical to the complaints filed and that the proceedings should stay.
In his plea, he requests that the court should appoint a committee led by a retired high court judge to launch an investigation into his caste certificate. Also, the court should transfer the investigation from the District Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes in New Delhi.
Wankhede, in his 100 pages plea, stated that the District Caste Scrutiny Committee should not have issued the notice without first considering his application challenging the complainant's locus. He even attempted to call the committee's inaction into question.
It is added, in his plea, that the contents of the show cause notice show that the entire exercise is one-sided, and the committee has premeditated a plan or coup to cancel or confiscate the caste certificate to appease cabinet minister Nawab Malik.
Also read:Â Sameer Wankhede, his wife move Bombay court to restrict defamatory social media posts
Also read:Â Nawab Malik Vs Sameer Wankhede: Court tells minister to do a fact-check first, refuses to pass injunction
