Sameer Wankhede, an IRS officer and former NCB Mumbai zonal director, has moved the Delhi high court against Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., owned by actor Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan, global streaming platform Netflix, and others.
Sameer Wankhede has filed a defamation suit seeking ₹2 crore in damages over Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan's directorial debut series “The Ba**ds of Bollywood”, alleging that it contains “false, malicious, and defamatory content” intended to tarnish his image.
The former NCB officer claimed that the show projects a misleading and negative portrayal of anti-drug enforcement agencies, thereby damaging his professional reputation.
Sameer Wankhede also claimed that the series has been deliberately conceptualised and executed with the intent to malign his reputation in a colourable and prejudicial manner, particularly when proceedings involving him and Aryan Khan remain pending before the Bombay high court and the NDPS Special Court, Mumbai.
He contended that the portrayal unfairly targets him at a time when the judicial scrutiny is ongoing.
What did the series show?
Referring to a particular sequence in The Ba**ds of Bollywood that featured a character making an obscene gesture after reciting 'Satyamev Jayate', the suit asserted that the 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 the law.
{{/usCountry}}Referring to a particular sequence in The Ba**ds of Bollywood that featured a character making an obscene gesture after reciting 'Satyamev Jayate', the suit asserted that the 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 the law.
{{/usCountry}}In addition, the content of the series is in contravention of various provisions of the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), as it seeks to outrage national sentiment through the use of obscene and offensive material.
In his lawsuit, Sameer Wankhede has sought damages of ₹2 crore to be donated to the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital for the treatment of cancer patients.
The suit also seeks the court's direction to restrain the streaming and distribution of the show, along with a declaration of its defamatory nature. Wankhede has maintained that, beyond harming his personal reputation, the content undermines faith in institutions responsible for enforcing drug laws.
The Delhi high court is expected to hear the matter soon.
(With inputs from ANI)