Delhi HC summons Red Chillies, Netflix, Meta, Google in Sameer Wankhede’s ₹2 cr defamation suit over Aryan Khan’s Netflix show
Former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede alleges that Netflix’s The Ba**ds of Bollywood*, produced by Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment, portrays him in a defamatory and malicious manner; Court seeks responses from all defendants by October 30.
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The Delhi High Court on October 8 issued summons to Red Chillies Entertainment, Netflix, Google, X Corp, and Meta in response to a defamation suit filed by Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer and former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede. The case concerns Netflix’s Aryan Khan-directed series The Ba**ds of Bollywood*, which Wankhede claims depicts him in a false and defamatory light.
Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav sought responses from all defendants, observing that “no general injunction order” could be passed at this stage. The matter has been scheduled for further hearing on October 30.
Wankhede, who arrested Aryan Khan in 2021 in a high-profile drugs case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, has demanded ₹2 crore in damages from Red Chillies Entertainment—owned by actor Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan- along with Netflix, Meta, Google, X (formerly Twitter), and RPG Lifestyle Media Pvt. Ltd.
According to the plea, the series features a character that bears “striking resemblance” to Wankhede and “targets and ridicules” him, allegedly portraying him as corrupt and unethical. “The defendant has purposefully and intentionally crafted a character in defamatory content with the sole intent to connect with the plaintiff,” the suit states.
Wankhede also contends that the show misrepresents anti-drug enforcement agencies, thereby eroding public confidence in law enforcement. He claims the series was “deliberately conceptualised and executed” to malign his image, particularly when legal proceedings in the Aryan Khan case remain sub judice before the Bombay High Court and Special NDPS Court.
The officer has also alleged receiving “intimidatory messages” from unknown individuals on social media following the release of promotional material related to the show.
Read more: Aryan Khan’s The Ba***ds of Bollywood lights up Times Square, cementing global push with Netflix
Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi appeared for Wankhede, while Senior Advocates Shyel Trehan and Rajiv Nayyar represented Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix respectively.
![“We should protect that [Tata culture] ferociously. The day we lose that… the day we decide to cheat or do something that benefits us and not the customer, we will have lost a very important asset,” late Ratan Tata had said.](https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/2023/08/Ratan-Tata-1019x573.jpg?impolicy=website&width=645&height=363 "“We should protect that [Tata culture] ferociously. The day we lose that… the day we decide to cheat or do something that benefits us and not the customer, we will have lost a very important asset,” late Ratan Tata had said.")
