News Desk – The Delhi High Court on Friday (September 26, 2025) raised questions about the defamation case filed by Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Sameer Wankhede against the Netflix series “The Ba*ds of Bollywood”, directed by Aryan Khan and produced by Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment.
Wankhede has asked the court to declare the series defamatory, stop its release, and award him ₹2 crore in damages, which he has pledged to donate to Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital.
At the start of the hearing, Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav asked Wankhede how his case could be filed in Delhi and whether any part of the issue arose in the Capital.
Senior lawyer Sandeep Sethi, representing Wankhede, argued that the web series is available everywhere, including Delhi, and therefore defames him here too. The judge, however, asked Wankhede to amend his plea and clearly show how the case was valid in Delhi.
Wankhede, who led the Narcotics Control Bureau’s 2021 cruise drug raid involving Aryan Khan (later cleared of all charges), says the series damages his personal image and discredits anti-drug enforcement agencies.
In his plea, Wankhede said the series spreads a negative and misleading portrayal of agencies, eroding public trust. He also pointed to one scene where a character makes an obscene gesture after saying “Satyamev Jayate,” calling it an insult to the National Emblem.
He further argued that the show violates the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act (1971), the Information Technology Act, and provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) by showing offensive and obscene content that could hurt national sentiments.
The court will now consider whether Wankhede’s case is maintainable in Delhi before moving further.
