Mumbai: The Delhi High Court has dismissed former Narcotics Control Bureau officer Sameer Wankhede’s plea seeking removal of alleged defamatory content from the Netflix series Ba**ds of Bollywood. The court decided that it lacked the territorial jurisdiction to investigate the case.
The order came after the court had earlier reserved its decision on Wankhede’s request for interim relief. He had approached the production house Red Chillies Entertainment and streaming platform Netflix of Shah Rukh Khan to remove some scenes of the show.
Why Sameer Wankhede moved court
Wankhede claimed that parts of Episode 1 of the series, particularly between timestamps 32:02 and 33:50, depict a character that closely resembles him in appearance, behaviour and mannerisms. In his views the representation was defamatory and designed to harm his reputation and public image.
The web series has been created, co written and directed by Aryan Khan, son of Shah Rukh Khan. Wankhede arrested Aryan in the 2021 NCB raid of a cruise ship. He was later cleared of all charges by the agency in 2022.
In his suit, Sameer Wankhede sought damages of Rs 2 crore from Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix. He also sought a permanent and mandatory injunction to take down the allegedly defamatory material and restraint any further publication of the same. According to him, the compensation amount would go to Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital as a donation.
What Red Chillies and Netflix argued
Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix opposed the plea, stating that the Delhi High Court had no jurisdiction in the case. Senior advocates Neeraj Kishan Kaul and Rajiv Nayyar submitted that the suit ought to have been instituted in Mumbai because both the residential place of Wankhede and the registered office of Red Chillies are in Mumbai.
They further stated that the series is a fictional and satirical take on Bollywood, set during a success party, and does not recreate the 2021 cruise ship raid. Another point made by Netflix was that the fact that Aryan Khan is a director does not establish malice or warrant the removal of any content.
In its written response, Red Chillies said that Sameer Wankhede’s reputation was already under public scrutiny even before the release of the show. It was a case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation against him on allegations of conspiracy to commit crime and extortion. The production house further argued that satire and parody were a form of expression that is not defamation.
Netflix highlighted that the show openly mocks several Bollywood realities. It also incorporates self referential humour, industry stereotyping and debates about nepotism, drug abuse, MeToo, casting couch and insider versus outsider arguments, which further supports its satirical quality.
Wankhede’s stand and court proceedings
Representing Sameer Wankhede, senior advocate Jai Sai Deepak argued that Delhi was the correct forum as the alleged defamation had its primary impact there. He indicated that Wankhede has been charged with actions by the department in Delhi, the media relations were conducted there after the release of the series, and Red Chillies and Netflix also conducted promotional campaigns in the city.
He also claimed that the actor playing the character had acknowledged portraying Wankhede and that several media reports had independently identified the character as him. Sameer Wankhede also claimed that the series was defamatory of the national emblem because it had a character saying “Satyamev Jayate” and then an obscene gesture, which he said was a contravention of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.
Previously the court had served summons to Red Chillies Entertainment, Netflix, Google, X Corp and Meta among others meaning that the issue needed judicial scrutiny. After hearing detailed submissions, the verdict was reserved on December 2, 2025.
With the dismissal of the plea on grounds of jurisdiction, the Delhi High Court has now closed the chapter on this case, leaving Sameer Wankhede to explore legal remedies in an appropriate forum if he chooses to pursue the matter further.
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