Delhi High Court refuses to entertain Sameer Wankhede's plea against Aryan Khan's 'The Bads of Bollywood'

Sameer Wankhede

The Delhi High Court has refused to entertain the plea of former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director and Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer  Sameer Wankhede against the Aryan Khan directorial venture 'The Bads of Bollywood.'

Sameer Wankhede had filed a case against Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt Ltd., the production house owned by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and his wife, Gauri Khan along with Netflix.

The series is currently streaming on Netflix and is also trending at No 1.

In his plea, Sameer Wankhede said that the series defamed him. The Delhi High Court said the plea is not 'maintable here.'

The Delhi High Court also asked why was the lawsuit filed in Delhi instead of Mumbai.

Justice Kaurav questioned, “Why file a suit in Delhi?” and directed Wankhede to amend his plea to address the maintainability issues.

What is the lawsuit about ?

In his suit, Wankhede has sought relief in the nature of a permanent and mandatory injunction, declaration, and damages against the production house, Netflix and others, adding that he has been aggrieved by a false, malicious, and defamatory video in Aryan Khan's directorial debut show, 'The Bads of Bollywood'.

"This series disseminates a misleading and negative portrayal of anti-drug enforcement agencies, thereby eroding public confidence in law enforcement institutions," he claimed in his plea.

He also claimed that the series has been deliberately conceptualised and executed with the intent to malign Sameer Wankhede's 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.

Referring to a particular sequence in the show 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.

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 Rs 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 ANI Inputs)