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IRS officer Sameer Wankhede has approached the Delhi High Court with a defamation suit against Red Chillies Entertainment, Netflix, and others offended over his alleged portrayal in Aryan Khan’s newly released Netflix series Ba**ds of Bollywood.
Sameer, who detained Aryan Khan during the 2021 Mumbai cruise drugs case, has alleged that the series contains “false, malicious and defamatory” content designed to malign his reputation. He has sought a permanent and mandatory injunction against the production house and the streaming platform, along with damages of Rs 2 crore, which he has pledged to donate to Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital for cancer patients’ treatment.
The suit contends that the series has been “deliberately conceptualised and executed” in a prejudicial manner while the case between Wankhede and Aryan Khan is still pending before the Bombay High Court and a special NDPS court in Mumbai.
A key objection raised is a sequence where a character resembling Wankhede raids a party, mirroring the October 2021 cruise raid. Another contentious scene shows a character reciting the slogan “Satyamev Jayate” before making an obscene gesture. According to the IRS officer, this act constitutes a grave violation under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, which attracts penal consequences.
The petition also alleges violations of the Information Technology Act and provisions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), claiming the content tarnishes the image of anti-drug enforcement agencies and attempts to hurt national sentiments through obscene material.
The Netflix series, directed by Aryan Khan and produced by Red Chillies Entertainment, has come under scrutiny for its depiction of law enforcement. Notably, Aryan Khan had been given a clean chit by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in 2022, after the agency found no material evidence linking him to drug possession in the high-profile case.
(With IANS inputs)