The Delhi High Court on Thursday declined to entertain a defamation suit filed by Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Sameer Wankhede against Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt Ltd—owned by actor Shah Rukh Khan—over the web series “The Ba**ds of Bollywood.”* The court ruled that it lacked territorial jurisdiction to hear the matter.
Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav ordered that the plaint be returned to Wankhede, granting him liberty to file it before a competent court. “This court lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the plaint. The same is, therefore, returned to the plaintiff to be presented, if so advised, before a court of competent jurisdiction,” the bench said.
Wankhede alleged that the web series was part of a deliberate effort to malign him following the high-profile 2021 drugs case in which Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) under Wankhede’s supervision. He claimed the series was conceived, written, and directed by Aryan Khan and accused the makers of using the platform to settle personal scores.
In his defamation suit, Wankhede demanded ₹2 crore in damages from Red Chillies and Netflix, stating that the amount should be donated to Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital for the benefit of cancer patients.
The IRS officer also objected to a particular scene in the series where a character reportedly displays a middle finger immediately after uttering the phrase “Satyamev Jayate”—a national motto associated with the Indian State Emblem. Wankhede argued that the depiction amounts to a violation of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, and sought legal action for what he described as a “grave and sensitive” breach of national honour.
With the Delhi High Court declining to hear the matter solely on jurisdictional grounds, Wankhede retains the option of pursuing the case in a court with appropriate territorial jurisdiction. There has been no immediate response from Red Chillies or Netflix on the issue.
