Delhi High Court To Hear Next Month Sameer Wankhede's Defamation Suit Against Netflix's 'Ba***ds of Bollywood' Directed By Aryan Khan

The Delhi High Court will hear next month IRS Officer Sameer Wankhede's defamation suit against production company Red Chillies Entertainment, OTT platform Netflix and others over his allegedly defamatory portrayal in the series “Ba***ds of Bollywood” directed by Aryan Khan.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav asked the parties to file their written submissions and listed the matter on November 10.

Senior advocate J Sai Deepak appeared for Wankhede. Senior advocate Rajiv Nayar appeared for Netflix.

Earlier this month, high court had issued summons in the suit as well as notice on the application for interim relief.

Last month the Court had questioned Wankhede as to how the suit was maintainable in Delhi and asked him to amend his plaint disclosing appropriate reasons.

The suit names the following as defendants: Red Chillies Entertainment Private Limited, Netflix, X Corp (formerly Twitter), Google LLC, Meta Platforms, RPG Lifestyle Media Private Limited and John Doe.

Wankhede has sought Rs. 2 crores as damages which will be donated to Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital for the treatment of Cancer patients.

The suit has been filed seeking permanent and mandatory injunction against the production house and others, against the allegedly “false, malicious, and defamatory video” broadcasted in the series.

It is Wankhede's case that the Netflix series has been “deliberately conceptualised and executed” with the intent to malign his reputation in a “colourable and prejudicial manner”, especially when the case involving him and Aryan khan is pending and sub-judice before the Bombay High Court and the NDPS Special Court.

It has also been averred that the series depicts a character making an “obscene gesture”, specifically, “showing a middle finger” after the character recites the slogan “Satyamev Jayate.”

This act, as per the suit, constitutes a grave and sensitive violation of the provisions of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, which attracts penal consequences under law.

The suit further contends that 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.

Case Title: SAMEER DNYANDEV WANKHEDE v. RED CHILLIES ENTERTAINMENTS PVT. LTD. & ORS