The Delhi High Court dismissed a defamation suit filed by IRS officer Sameer Wankhede against Aryan Khan and the makers of the Netflix series The Ba***ds of Bollywood on Thursday, citing jurisdictional grounds.
The suit, which sought ₹2 crore in damages, alleged that the satirical series, directed and written by Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, featured a character that deliberately parodied and defamed Wankhede in retaliation for his role in the controversial 2021 Mumbai cruise drug raid that briefly landed younger Khan in trouble.
Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav ruled that the Delhi court lacked territorial jurisdiction to hear the case. The judge decided that the case should be resolved in Mumbai because both Wankhede and the main defendants, Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix, operate their businesses there. The court ordered Wankhede to return his plaint documents so he could file them with the proper Mumbai legal authority.
Neeraj Kishan Kaul, who serves as Senior Advocate, represented Red Chillies Entertainment in court by defending their show, which he claimed operates under satirical protection because it shows real events and people through its exercise of free speech rights. The dismissal does not address the merits of Wankhede’s defamation claims.
The series has attracted the audience for its satirical content and marks Aryan Khan’s directorial debut. The lawsuit functions as a major study of how creative expression conflicts with personal reputation rights in India’s entertainment industry.
