The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued summons to Shah Rukh Khan’s home banner Red Chillies Entertainment, streaming giant Netflix and others in connection with a defamation suit filed by IRS Officer Sameer Wankhede over his alleged portrayal in Aryan Khan’s directorial debut series The Ba***ds Of Bollywood, as per legal news portal Live Law.
Appearing for Wankhede, advocate Sandeep Sethi said in reference to the series, there are posts trolling Wankhede, his wife and his sister. Ex facie defamatory.
Thereafter, Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav issued summons to defendants — Gauri Khan owned Red Chillies Entertainment Private Limited, Netflix, X Corp (formerly Twitter), Google LLC, Meta Platforms, RPSG Lifestyle Media Private Limited and John Doe — on the defamation suit and asked them to file their replies within seven days.
The court listed the matter for further hearing on October 30.
Wankhede has sought Rs 2 crore as damages which will be donated to Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital for the treatment of cancer patients, as per Live Law.
The suit also seeks a permanent and mandatory injunction against the production house and others for allegedly broadcasting a “false, malicious, and defamatory video” in the series. Wankhede also alleged that the series features a character making an “obscene gesture” after reciting the slogan “Satyamev Jayate”. This act, as per the suit, constitutes a grave and sensitive violation of the provisions of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.
The plea contends that some parts of the series breach provisions of the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita as they allegedly outrage national sentiment through offensive and inappropriate material.
Wankhede’s suit further claims that the series has been deliberately conceptualised and executed with the intent to malign his reputation in a “colourable and prejudicial manner”, especially when the case involving him and Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan khan is sub-judice before the Bombay High Court and the NDPS Special Court in Mumbai.
The controversy stems from a scene in Aryan Khan’s directorial debut that sparked speculation online about a dig at Wankhede — the former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer who arrested Aryan in the 2021 drug case.
According to media reports, Aryan was arrested on October 3, 2021, along with six others by the Narcotics Control Bureau during a raid on a cruise ship. He was detained as part of an investigation into an alleged international drugs racket. After being denied bail four times, he was cleared of all charges in May 2022.
Sameer Wankhede was later accused of corruption and extortion in connection with the case.
The Ba***ds of Bollywood scene in question shows an officer storming into a high-profile film party where he finds a man smoking a joint. Upon discovering the man is not from Bollywood, the officer lets him go. Moments later, he detains another man — who is only sipping a drink — simply because he belongs to the film industry.
The Ba***ds of Bollywood hit Netflix on September 18. Besides directing it, Aryan has developed the screenplay for the series, which stars Lakshya and Sahher Bambba in key roles. Bobby Deol, Manav Chauhan, Mona Singh, Raghav Juyal and Anyaa Singh round off the cast of the series, produced by Bonnie Jain and Gauri Khan under Shah Rukh’s home banner, Red Chillies Entertainment.