Sameer Wankhede religion row: Law seems to be on his side, says Prakash Ambedkar

Mumbai, November 20

Amid a controversy surrounding the religion of Sameer Wankhede, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) leader Prakash Ambedkar on Saturday said the law is on the side of the Mumbai NCB chief, whom Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik had accused of hiding his “true religion- Islam” and securing a Central job by faking his caste certificate.

Malik had alleged that Sameer Wankhede, an IRS officer, was born as Muslim but he forged his caste certificate to get a job under a reserved category.

Wankhede, the Mumbai zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), had denied the allegations.

“As per my information, the law is on the side of Sameer Wankhede. There is a similar case where the Supreme Court had ruled in the favour of a man from Kerala who wanted to disassociate himself from his parent’s religion —Christianity.  “There is a Supreme Court verdict on February 25, 2015, where the case is similar to that of Sameer Wankhede’s. The petitioner’s parents had accepted Christianity before his birth. But after he became an adult, he filed a petition saying he wanted to be associated with the religion of his grandparents, who are non-Christians,” he said.

The Supreme Court had upheld his appeal and ruled that since the petitioner is an adult now, he can associate himself with his grandparents’ religion, Ambedkar said.

“I think legally Wankhede is clean and the law is on his side,” he said.

 Speaking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement to repeal the three contentious farm laws, Ambedkar said a case is pending before the Supreme Court wherein petitioners have argued that agriculture is a state subject. — PTI