IRS Officer Sameer Wankhede has filed a defamation suit before the Delhi High Court against Red Chillies Entertainment, Netflix and others
The lawsuit is over allegedly defamatory portrayal of him in Aryan Khan-directed The Ba***ds of Bollywood
Wankhede claimed that the show has been "deliberately conceptualised and executed with the intent to malign" his reputation
Aryan Khan's Netflix show The Ba***ds of Bollywood has landed in trouble. IRS officer Sameer Wankhede has filed a defamation case over allegedly defamatory portrayal of him in the web series. The former NCB Mumbai zonal director has moved the Delhi high court against Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., Netflix, and others.
Why Sameer Wankhede filed defamation suit against The Ba***ds of Bollywood
As per a report in ANI, Wankhede, in his suit, has sought Rs 2 crore in damages over Aryan's debut series The Ba**ds of Bollywood, claiming that the show contains “false, malicious, and defamatory content” intended to malign his image.
In his lawsuit, Wankhede demanded that the money, which he has sought, should be donated to the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital for the treatment of cancer patients.
The lawsuit also seeks the court's order to restrain the streaming and distribution of the show, and a declaration of its defamatory nature. Wankhede also alleged that apart from tarnishing his reputation, the show also undermines the faith in institutions responsible for enforcing drug laws.
He also claimed that the Netflix show has damaged the professional reputation of the anti-drug enforcement agencies by showing them in a negative light.
Wankhede further claimed that the show has been "deliberately conceptualised and executed with the intent to malign" his reputation in a "colourable and prejudicial manner," especially when the legal proceedings involving him and Aryan Khan are still pending before the Bombay High Court and the NDPS Special Court, Mumbai.
He called his portrayal on the show unfair when the judicial scrutiny is still underway.
What did The Ba***ds of Bollywood show?
In The Ba**ds of Bollywood, there is a scene in the first episode where a team of anti-drug agency comes to a party and makes an obscene gesture after saying 'Satyamev Jayate'. The suit stated that the scene is a violation of the provisions of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.
The content of the show is also "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."
Aryan Khan drug case
On October 3, 2021, Aryan, along with others, was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau after the anti-drug agency raided a cruise ship and seized banned drugs. They were charged with possession, consumption, and sale/purchase of banned drugs.
The investigation was led by Wankhede. Aryan was released on bail after 25 days in jail.
In May 2022, all charges against him were dropped, and Wankhede was removed from the case after being accused of blackmail.
