The Delhi High Court on Tuesday allowed IRS officer Sameer Wankhede to move a court in Mumbai with his lawsuit alleging defamation by The Ba***ds of Bollywood series directed by Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan.

The Netflix series Ba***ds of Bollywood was produced by Shah Rukh Khan-owned Red Chillies Entertainment.

Justice Vikas Mahajan greenlit Wankhede’s application and asked both parties to appear before a civil court in Malad on February 12.

“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,” the judge said, as per a report by PTI.

The court also said the order would be treated as summons to the parties in the case that would now be taken up by the Mumbai court.

Wankhede filed his application after Delhi High Court’s ruling on January 29. The court had mentioned that it had no territorial jurisdiction to hear his lawsuit.

As per PTI, Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav had “returned” the plaint to Wankhede and said since the parties resided in Mumbai and the alleged wrong also occurred there, the courts in Mumbai had the power to deal with such a plea.

In his plea, which names the OTT platform Netflix besides Aryan Khan and Red Chillies Entertainment, Wankhede described the web series as “false, malicious, and defamatory”.

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.

In the scene, an officer storms into a high-profile film party and 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.

He alleged the series “disseminates a misleading and negative portrayal of anti-drug enforcement agencies, thereby eroding public confidence in law enforcement institutions”.

Wankhede further claimed the series has been “deliberately” conceptualised and executed with the intent to malign Sameer Wankhede’s reputation in a “colourable and prejudicial” manner.

The officer has reportedly sought damages of Rs 2 crore, adding that the sum would be donated to Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital for the treatment of cancer patients.