Delhi HC questions Sameer Wankhede over maintainability of plea against web series

The Delhi High Court on Friday questioned IRS officer and former NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede over maintainability of his defamation suit against actor Shahrukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan owned Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix for allegedly maligning his reputation in their series ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav asked Wankhede’s lawyer as to how the plea was maintainable in Delhi.

Senior advocate Sandeep Sethi, representing Wankhede, said the web series is meant for across cities, including Delhi, and the officer has been defamed here.

However, he said he would amend the plaint accordingly.

The court granted him time to file an amended application after which it would hear the matter.

Wankhede’s plea has sought permanent and mandatory injunction, declaration and damages against Red Chillies Entertainment Private Limited, Netflix and others, for what he alleges is “false, malicious and defamatory video” of the production house and broadcast by Netflix as part of their television series.

Wankhede sought Rs 2 crore in damages which he wants to to be donated to the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital for cancer patients.

“This series disseminates a misleading and negative portrayal of anti-drug enforcement agencies, thereby eroding public confidence in law enforcement institutions,” the plea said.

The plea said the series has been deliberately conceptualised and executed with the intent to malign Wankhede’s reputation in a colourable and prejudicial manner, especially when the case involving the officer and Shahrukh Khan’s son Aryan khan is pending and sub-judice before the Bombay High Court and the NDPS Special Court in Mumbai.