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Police to close Sameer Wankhede’s atrocities case against Nawab Malik

ByKaruna Nidhi
Jan 22, 2025 09:28 AM IST

In his petition filed last year, Wankhede accused Malik of making defamatory remarks about him and his family members based on their caste.

The Mumbai police have informed the Bombay high court that they have decided to file a closure report in the atrocities case registered against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik based on a complaint lodged by former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) director Sameer Wankhede in August 2022.

Mumbai, India - March 7, 2019: NCP leader Dhananjay Munde and Nawab Malik during press conference at B4 bungalow, Nariman Point in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, March 7, 2019. (Photo by Kunal Patil/Hindustan Times)
Mumbai, India - March 7, 2019: NCP leader Dhananjay Munde and Nawab Malik during press conference at B4 bungalow, Nariman Point in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, March 7, 2019. (Photo by Kunal Patil/Hindustan Times)

On January 14, additional public prosecutor SS Kaushik informed a division bench of justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale that the police, after investigating the case, have decided to file a C Summary Report, which means there is no evidence against the accused and the case is neither true nor false.

Once a closure report is filed, the complainant can challenge it. After hearing all parties, the court can either accept or reject the closure report.

In his petition filed last year, Wankhede, who belongs to the Mahar Scheduled Caste, accused Malik of making defamatory remarks about him and his family members based on their caste during media interactions. This was after the NCB, then headed by Wankhede, had arrested Malik’s son-in-law Sameer Khan in January 2021 in a drug-trafficking case.

The Goregaon police had registered an FIR against Malik in August 2022 following Wankhede’s complaint, charging the NCP leader under section 3(1)(u) of the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which prohibits the promotion of hatred or ill-will against members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

However, Malik was never arrested, and neither was a charge sheet filed. Wankhede, in his petition, claimed that Malik wasn’t arrested and the police did not conduct an investigation despite the offence being cognizable and non-bailable because of the NCP leader’s influence.

Wankhede claimed in his petition that Malik had started targeting him after his son-in-law’s arrest. Despite the court passing restraining orders against Malik, Wankhede claimed the NCP leader had continued to make defamatory statements against him and his family members, even as recently as during a television interview in October 2024.

Wankhede added that he and his family have suffered immense humiliation and pain because of Malik’s slanderous allegations and remarks. Claiming that the police weren’t taking any action, the Indian Revenue Service officer had sought for the case to be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

However, the prosecution said the police had not found enough evidence to prosecute Malik for the offences he was charged with in the FIR and had thus filed a C Summary Report. The division bench then disposed of Wankhede’s petition, saying, “nothing survives for consideration in the present petition”.

The court added that Wankhede can take the matter further in appropriate forums in accordance with the law. “Needless to state that we have not gone into the merits of the petitioner’s complaint, nor the investigation carried out by the police and, as such, all contentions of all parties are kept open,” the court added.

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