The Delhi High Court has rejected the defamation suit filed by Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Sameer Wankhede over his alleged portrayal in the Netflix series ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’, which references the Aryan Khan case, holding that it lacks territorial jurisdiction to entertain the plaint.
Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav passed the order while upholding the preliminary objection raised by the defendants. The Court directed that the plaint be returned to plaintiff Wankhede for presentation before a court of competent jurisdiction. It further granted liberty to the plaintiff to apply under Order VII Rule 10 of the Code of Civil Procedure, if he so desires.
With this judgment, the High Court declined to entertain Wankhede’s defamation claim.
Wankhede had approached the Court seeking interim directions against Shah Rukh Khan’s production house Red Chillies Entertainment and OTT platform Netflix, including the removal of certain scenes from the series, alleging that they were defamatory and harmed his reputation.
The suit related to Episode 1 of the series, in which a character is portrayed whom Wankhede claimed closely resembled him in appearance, conduct, and mannerisms.
Opposing the plea, Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix contended that the Delhi High Court lacked territorial jurisdiction, arguing that the suit ought to have been instituted in Mumbai. Senior advocates Neeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing for Red Chillies, and Rajiv Nayyar, for Netflix, submitted that both Wankhede’s residence and Red Chillies’ registered office are located in Mumbai.
The defendants further argued that the series is a fictional and satirical work set during a Bollywood success party and does not depict the Cordelia cruise raid. Netflix also submitted that the mere fact that the series was created and directed by Aryan Khan does not establish malice or warrant judicial interference.
Appearing for Wankhede, senior advocate Jai Sai Deepak argued that the suit was maintainable in Delhi as the alleged defamatory impact was primarily felt in the national capital. He submitted that departmental proceedings involving Wankhede are based in Delhi, several media interactions following the release of the series occurred in the city, and both Netflix and Red Chillies undertook substantial promotional activities in Delhi.
Deepak also contended that the actor portraying the character had acknowledged representing Wankhede and that media reports had independently identified the character as him, portraying him in a negative light.
