Maharashtra: Excise dept issues show-cause notice to bar owned by Sameer Wankhede

The Thane unit of the state Excise Department has issued a show-cause notice to the bar owned by NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede in Vashi area of Navi Mumbai.

Nilesh Sangde, Superintendent of Excise (Thane district), said, “We have issued a notice in this case for breach of licence conditions and the owners, the Wankhedes, will have to appear before the collector of Thane for a hearing soon.”

An initial investigation by local excise officials has indicated that on the day that Wankhede was granted a licence for the bar and restaurant on October 27, 1997, he was just 17 years old, far below the minimum stipulated age of 21. As a result, the possibility of the licence being revoked can’t be ruled out. The permit can be revoked under section 54 of the Maharashtra Prohibition Act.

NCP leader and Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik had earlier alleged that Wankhede had been holding the licence for Hotel Sadguru, located in Vashi, since October 1997. Sameer’s father Dnyandev Wankhede was an officer in the excise department. Malik said Sameer was not even 18 years old at the time, in spite of which he got the licence.

Malik had said that he would be writing to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) as well as the state excise department and other concerned departments in this regard. He sought action against Wankhede and said he had no right to be in the central services as he had flouted rules.