Today, On 3rd February, The Delhi High Court on Tuesday allowed IRS officer Sameer Wankhede to approach the City Civil and Sessions Court in Dindoshi, Mumbai. He may file a suit over his allegedly defamatory portrayal in Aryan Khan’s Netflix series now.
The Delhi High Court permitted former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sameer Wankhede to file a defamation suit against Aryan Khan’s Netflix show, ‘Ba***ds of Bollywood’, in a Mumbai court.
Justice Vikas Mahajan stated,
“The application is allowed. Let the parties appear before the City Civil & Sessions Court, Dindoshi, Malad in Mumbai on February 12 when he [Wankhede] proposes to present the plaint.”
Previously, Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav ruled that the Delhi High Court was not the correct venue for this matter, allowing Wankhede to approach a court with appropriate jurisdiction.
The court noted,
“With the main contesting defendants (Red Chillies), residing in Mumbai, the plaintiff (Wankhede) himself being a resident of Mumbai, and further the wrong, as per the plaintiff’s own plaint, having also occurred at Mumbai, the Merger Rule of Tejpal applies with full force. The jurisdiction to entertain the present suit lies only with the courts in Mumbai….This Court lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the plaint; the same is, therefore, returned to the plaintiff, to be presented, if so advised, before a Court of competent jurisdiction.”
As a result, Wankhede submitted an application under Order VII Rule 10A of the Civil Procedure Code, permitting the court to set a date for appearance in the relevant court following the return of his plaint.
In 2021, Wankhede, the Zonal Director of the Narcotics Control Bureau, had arrested Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act) following a drug raid in Mumbai.
Aryan Khan was subsequently exonerated of all charges.
In his defamation claim submitted to the High Court, Wankhede asserted that a character in Ba**ds of Bollywood* resembled him and that the depiction was intended to mock and insult him. He sought Rs.2 crore in damages from the show’s producer, Red Chillies Entertainment owned by Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan as well as Netflix.
In addition to financial damages, Wankhede requested the removal of the alleged defamatory content and an injunction to prevent any further defamatory statements about him from being published or disseminated.
The Court had earlier summoned Red Chillies Entertainment, Netflix, Google, X Corp, and Meta, requesting their responses to the defamation suit. In its written response, Red Chillies noted that Wankhede’s reputation had already been the subject of public scorn and criticism prior to the show’s release, referencing ongoing investigations by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against him for criminal conspiracy and corruption charges.
Red Chillies contended that the series functions as a form of satire and parody, which is protected under free expression and should not be deemed defamatory.
Case Title: SAMEER DNYANDEV WANKHEDE V/S RED CHILLIES ENTERTAINMENTS PVT.LTD AND ORS.
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