Sameer Wankhede suit dismissed by the Delhi High Court on grounds of lack of territorial jurisdiction, bringing relief to Shah Rukh Khan’s production house Red Chillies Entertainment and streaming platform Netflix. The court refused to entertain Wankhede’s plea seeking the removal of certain scenes from the Netflix series Ba**ds of Bollywood*.
The High Court held that it did not have the authority to hear the matter and dismissed the suit accordingly. The order came after the court had earlier reserved its decision on Wankhede’s request for interim relief.
Sameer Wankhede, a former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer, had approached the court alleging that parts of the series were defamatory and deliberately designed to harm his reputation. His objection centered on Episode 1, specifically scenes between timestamps 32:02 and 33:50, where a character is portrayed in a manner he claimed closely resembled him in appearance, conduct, and mannerisms.
The Netflix series has been created, co-written, and directed by Aryan Khan, son of Shah Rukh Khan. Aryan Khan was arrested by Wankhede during the 2021 NCB cruise ship raid, though he and five others were later given a clean chit by the agency in 2022.
Opposing the plea, Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix argued that the Delhi High Court lacked territorial jurisdiction. Senior advocates Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing Red Chillies, and Rajiv Nayyar, appearing for Netflix, submitted that the suit should have been filed in Mumbai, where both Wankhede resides and Red Chillies has its registered office.
The respondents also maintained that the series is a fictional and satirical narrative set against the backdrop of a Bollywood success party and does not recreate or reference the Cordelia cruise ship raid. Netflix further contended that Aryan Khan’s involvement in the project does not establish malice or justify the removal of any content.
Appearing for Wankhede, senior advocate Jai Sai Deepak argued that the case was maintainable in Delhi as the alleged defamation had its primary impact in the national capital. He pointed out that departmental proceedings against Wankhede are based in Delhi and that multiple media interactions and promotional activities related to the series took place in the city.
Deepak also claimed that the actor portraying the character had acknowledged depicting Wankhede and said that several media reports had independently identified the character as him. According to the plea, the portrayal cast Wankhede in a negative light, resulting in reputational harm.