Sameer Wankhede takes Aryan Khan’s series The Bads of Bollywood to court over defamation, seeks damages of Rs 2 crore
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Former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sameer Wankhede has dragged Netflix and Shah Rukh Khan’s production house, Red Chillies Entertainment, to the Delhi High Court over Ba**ds of Bollywood*—a recently released web series directed by SRK’s son, Aryan Khan. Wankhede claims the show paints him in a false, malicious light, twisting the 2021 drugs-on-cruise case to damage his reputation.
Wankhede, has alleged that the series not only targets him personally but also “erodes public confidence” in anti-drug enforcement agencies by misrepresenting events tied to Aryan Khan’s arrest and subsequent release. He has named Red Chillies, Netflix, and others as respondents in his defamation suit.
According to ANI, the former officer insists the timing of the release is especially problematic, since proceedings involving him and Aryan Khan are still pending before the Bombay High Court and the NDPS Special Court in Mumbai. By presenting a skewed narrative while judicial scrutiny continues, he argues, the series unfairly prejudices public opinion. The petition goes further, pointing to a controversial sequence in which a character makes an obscene gesture after recital of “Satyamev Jayate.” Wankhede’s legal team argues that this act violates the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, attracting penal consequences for its offensive and insensitive portrayal.
He has also claimed that parts of the show fall foul of the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), accusing the creators of using obscene content that offends national sentiment.
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Interestingly, Wankhede isn’t asking for damages for himself. Instead, his lawsuit seeks Rs 2 crore in damages, with the amount to be donated to the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital for the treatment of cancer patients. Alongside this, he has requested the court to restrain the streaming and distribution of the series, while officially declaring it defamatory. The Delhi High Court is expected to take up the matter soon.
NHRC stepped in
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had earlier stepped in following a complaint against Netflix’s web series The Ba**ds of Bollywood. The complaint alleges that actor Ranbir Kapoor was shown using banned e-cigarettes on screen without any statutory warning or disclaimer.
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In response, the NHRC has written to the Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, urging action to restrict such content, citing its potential influence on young viewers. The Commission has also addressed a letter to the Mumbai Police Commissioner, asking the police to register an FIR against Ranbir Kapoor, the producers, the production house, and OTT platform Netflix for violating the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act, 2019.
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