HC flags issues in Wankhede's defamation case against Red Chillies, Netflix

The Delhi High Court on Friday heard the defamation suit filed by IRS officer and former NCB Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede against Netflix, Red Chillies Entertainment (owned by actor Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan), and others over the series "Ba***ds of Bollywood."

The matter came up before Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav. Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi appeared for Wankhede, while Senior Advocates Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi represented Netflix and Red Chillies.

At the outset, Justice Kaurav asked Wankhede's counsel about the cause of action for filing the suit in the national capital.

Sethi argued that since the series was meant for audiences across cities, including Delhi, and memes targeting Wankhede were also circulating in the Capital, jurisdiction was made out.

The Court, however, expressed reservations. "Your plaint is not maintainable. I am rejecting your plaint. Had your case been that you were defamed at various places, including Delhi, and that maximum damage occurred here, we would have still considered it," Justice Kaurav observed.

Citing Section 9 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), the Court pointed out that the plaint had not properly set out how the civil suit would lie in Delhi, particularly in paragraphs 37 and 38. On Sethi's request for time to amend the plaint, the judge clarified: "I am not giving any date. The Registry will give the date once the application is listed." The hearing then concluded.

Wankhede has sought a permanent and mandatory injunction, declaration, and damages of Rs 2 crore, proposed to be donated to Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital, alleging that the Netflix series is false, malicious, and defamatory. He contends that the show erodes public confidence in anti-drug enforcement agencies by portraying them in a misleading manner.

The suit also highlights a scene where, after reciting "Satyamev Jayate," a character makes an obscene middle-finger gesture. Wankhede argues this constitutes a violation of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 and attracts penal consequences.

Further, the plea asserts that the content contravenes provisions of the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) by using obscene and offensive material capable of outraging national sentiment.

Wankhede maintains that the series was deliberately conceptualised to malign him at a time when cases involving him and Aryan Khan remain pending before the Bombay High Court and the NDPS Special Court in Mumbai.