Sameer Wankhede on Delhi HC not entertaining plea against The Ba***ds of Bollywood

Abhinav Garg | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; January 30, 2026)

New Delhi: Delhi High Court has refused to entertain IRS officer Sameer Wankhede’s defamation suit against Netflix series ‘The Ba****ds Of Bollywood’, produced by Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment, citing lack of territorial jurisdiction.

Since both the plaintiff and the defendants are residents of Mumbai, and the alleged wrong, “as per the plaintiff’s own plaint”, also occurred there, only Mumbai courts have the jurisdiction to hear the present suit, Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav said Thursday.

HC returned the complaint directing the plaintiff to approach a “court of competent jurisdiction”.

Wankhede alleged in his plea that the web series was conceptualized to target and malign him, and that the defamatory content was created to take revenge for the arrest of Shah Rukh’s son Aryan Khan in a narcotics case in 2021. Wankhede, who was then Narcotics Control Bureau’s zonal head in Mumbai, had arrested Aryan and others following a raid on a cruise ship.

He has sued Red Chillies and Netflix for defamation and sought an order of injunction as well as Rs 2 crore in damages, which he said would be donated to Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital.

As per the lawsuit, the series depicts a character making an obscene gesture — showing the middle finger — after saying ‘Satyamev Jayate’, a slogan that is part of the National Emblem. This act constitutes a grave violation of the provisions of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, which attracts penal consequences under law, it says.

Red Chillies and Netflix opposed the suit, saying it should be filed in Mumbai instead of Delhi. Netflix also contended that the show was a satire and dark comedy on Bollywood culture, and that the officer should not be “oversensitive” about a oneand-half-minute scene.

On the content of the web series, Red Chillies said it touched upon various controversies in Bollywood film industry, such as nepotism, paparazzi culture, adultery and struggles faced by newcomers, with undertones of satirical elements and parody. It argued that ‘satire’ was permitted in law as a legitimate form of artistic expression and social commentary.
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Rishabh Suri (HINDUSTAN TIMES; January 30, 2026)

The Delhi High Court on Thursday declined to entertain IRS officer Sameer Wankhede’s defamation suit against the Netflix web series The Ba***ds Of Bollywood, directed by Aryan Khan and produced by his father Shah Rukh Khan-owned Red Chillies Entertainment. In September 2025, Wankhede had moved the court alleging that a character resembling him in the series mocks the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

However, in the hearing, Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav ruled that the HC lacks territorial jurisdiction to hear the matter, adding that Wankhede was free to pursue the case before a court with competent jurisdiction.

Reacting to the order, Wankhede clarified that the case has not been dismissed: “I have been asked to approach a proper forum. Let the order be uploaded, then I will take a call on when to do it. This has not demotivated me at all; it’s just an order to approach the appropriate court. I will do the needful and keep fighting for justice.”

In his petition, Wankhede had alleged that the portrayal was intended to “settle personal scores” over his role in the 2021 drug-case arrest of Aryan while serving as Zonal Director of the NCB. It also flagged a scene in which a character makes an obscene gesture after reciting ‘Satyamev Jayate’, which he claimed amounts to a violation of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.

Wankhede sued the makers for defamation, seeking Rs. 2 crore in damages, which he said would be donated.