Having taken cognisance of a complaint made by the former chief Mumbai Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Sameer Wankhede, National Commission of Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has decided to look the allegations of “discrimination and harassment” made against NCB’s deputy Director-General Gyaneshwar Singh by Wankhede.
Acting on a representation made by Wankhede against Gyaneshwar Singh, the NCSC on Tuesday decided to look into the matter in pursuance of powers vested with it under Article 338 of the Constitution.
The ordering of an inquiry came after Wankhede met NCSC chairman and discussed the matter in detail. “The Commission observed that there appears to be discrimination and harassment of the petitioner (Wankhede), the Commission decided that no further action in the manner be taken till the pendency of the case in the Commission. This is as per para 7.2 (a)(vii) of the Rules of Procedure of the Constitution,” In his report to the Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs, Under-secretary to the Government of India Kishan Chand stated that the Commission had further asked Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) to submit all documents submitted by the Special Inquiry team of the NCB before the commission for its perusal and examination.
Chand asked Singh to submit full facts and information of the case to him within 15 days if the receipt o the notice or in person.
Chand said that in case the commission did not receive reply from Singh within the stipulated time, “the Commission may excise the powers of Civil courts may exercise under Article 338 of the Constitution of India and issue summons for your appearance in person by a representative before the Commission.
The development came two the Mumbai district caste certificate verification committee – which went into the allegation that he used fake caste certificate to join the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) –has given a clean chit to Wankhede and his father Dnyandev Wankhede.
In an order passed on August 13, the Mumbai district caste certificate verification committee ruled that Sameer was not a Muslim by birth and it has been proved that he belonged to Mahar caste, which is a Scheduled Caste (SC).
Rejecting all complaints against the controversial IRS officer and his father, the order stated that “it has not been proved that Sameer and his father Dnyandev Wankhede had renounced Hinduism to convert to Islam. It is proven that Wankhede and his father in law belong to the Scheduled Caste that is Mahar-37.
The allegations questioning the authenticity of the caste certificate used by Sameer Wankhede to join IRS also figure in the submissions made by Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik in response to a Rs 1.25 crore defamation suit filed by Sameer’s father Dhyandev against him.