Ex-NCB officer Sameer Wankhede files a Rs 2 crore defamation suit against Red Chillies Entertainment, Netflix, and others over his alleged false portrayal in Aryan Khan’s directorial debut. He seeks damages to be donated to Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital.
New Delhi: IRS officer Sameer Wankhede has filed a defamation lawsuit in the Delhi High Court against Red Chillies Entertainment, Gauri Khan, and others, over what he claims is a false and defamatory depiction of him in the new Netflix series “Ba***ds of Bollywood,” directed by Aryan Khan.
Wankhede has sought damages of Rs 2 crore, which he has stated will be donated to the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital for the treatment of cancer patients.
The suit seeks a permanent and mandatory injunction against the production house, Netflix, and other parties involved, claiming that the video broadcast in the series is “false, malicious, and defamatory.”
According to Wankhede’s petition, the Netflix series has been “deliberately conceptualised and executed” to damage his reputation in a “colourable and prejudicial manner,” especially while the case involving him and Aryan Khan remains pending and sub-judice before the Bombay High Court and the NDPS Special Court.
The petition highlights a scene in the series that has gone viral on social media, which appears to resemble Wankhede’s actions during Aryan Khan’s arrest in 2021.
In the scene, the show’s lead actor, Lakshya, is at a film party when a stern officer steps out of a police van and declares,
“I will raid this venue today.”
The officer continues, “Satyamev Jayate,” a phrase Wankhede often used while addressing Aryan’s case on X (formerly Twitter).
The sequence shows the officer spotting a man smoking and saying,
“I am a part of the war against drugs. I am part of the wall against drugs. I am part of NCG (likely a stand-in for the NCB).”
When the smoker dismisses him by saying he is not part of Bollywood, the officer becomes frustrated. The smoker then points to an actor, saying, “he’s from Bollywood,” prompting the officer to question,
“How can you stand next to a man who is smoking a joint?” before slapping him and ordering his team to arrest the actor. The officer then remarks, “Ye Bollywood vale bhi na (These Bollywood people na…).”
The petition also objects to another scene where a character is shown making an obscene gesture, raising the middle finger immediately after saying “Satyamev Jayate,” part of India’s National Emblem.
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Wankhede claims that this act
“constitutes a grave and sensitive violation of the provisions of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, which attracts penal consequences under law.”
He further alleges that the content of the series violates provisions of the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) because it includes
“obscene, offensive material intended to provoke and outrage national sentiment.”
This controversy has renewed discussions around Aryan Khan’s 2021 arrest. Aryan Khan, along with Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on charges of possession, consumption, and sale/purchase of banned drugs.
They were among 20 people taken into custody after the NCB raided a cruise ship, claiming to have seized contraband. Aryan spent 25 days in jail before being granted bail. Wankhede was later removed from the case following allegations of blackmail.
In past interviews, Wankhede has commented indirectly on the case. Asked about a line in Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan —
“Bete ko haath lagane se pehle baap se baat kar (Before touching my son, talk to the father)” —
which was seen as an indirect hint at him, Wankhede said,
“Dekhiye mein kisi ka naam leke kisi ko famous nahi karna chahta hoon. Jo chats leak vagairah hein woh honourable High Court ke saame hain toh uspe koi tippani nahi dena chahunga main (I don’t want to take names and make anyone famous. Whatever the chat leaks happened, the case is with the High Court, so I cannot comment on that).”
In another interview, he referred to the Aryan case as “the smallest” of his career, saying,
“I would rather think it as one of the smallest cases of my career – a microorganism in the room. I don’t want to give it so much importance, or waste my time talking about it. The matter is currently in the court and I don’t want to comment on it. I just want to say, neither am I scared of anything, nor am I hiding anything. The only reason I avoid talking about it is because I have given an affidavit in the court that I will not speak about the case. There is a lot to share and talk, but there is a code of conduct, due to which I can’t discuss. Once the court will pass its verdict, I will surely speak about it in detail.”
The Netflix series “Ba***ds of Bollywood” is produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and features Lakshya, Raghav Juyal, Sahher Bambba, Mona Singh, Anya Singh, Manoj Pahwa, Gautami Kapoor, and Bobby Deol.
The show’s release has sparked legal action and social media debates about the portrayal of law enforcement officers and the potential impact on public perception.
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