IRS officer and former NCB Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede spoke to the press on Saturday to talk about the increase in drug abuse in the city. When asked about the recent defamation case he filed against Netflix and Red Chillies Entertainment over Aryan Khan’s web series, The Ba***ds of Bollywood, here’s what he said. (Also Read: How suing Aryan Khan, SRK for The Ba***ds of Bollywood in Delhi hurt Sameer Wankhede’s case: Why HC rejected complaint)
Sameer Wankhede on The Ba***ds of Bollywood defamation case
ANI posted a video in which Sameer tells the press, “In Mumbai, especially in Northern or Eastern Mumbai, we need to create awareness in public about the kind of drugs that exist and the rise in drug consumption in the city. A camp was organised here to talk to parents, and I’m very happy that I came here to talk about the legal provisions.”
When asked about his defamation case against The Ba***ds of Bollywood and if an attempt was being made to tone down this issue, he replied, “I don’t want to comment on this. All I’m going to say is, satyameva jayate (truth alone triumphs).” Incidentally, a character from the web series, which Sameer alleged was based on him, also says the words ‘satyameva jayate’.
Sameer Wankhede’s case on The Ba***ds of Bollywood team
For the unversed, Sameer had filed a case against Aryan, Netflix and Red Chillies Entertainment (owned by Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan) over the recently released web series The Ba***ds of Bollywood. On Friday, the Delhi High Court heard the defamation suit and said, “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.”
Sameer sought ₹2 crore in damages, which he proposed to donate to Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital, alleging that the series is ‘false, malicious, and defamatory’. The suit also highlights a scene where, after the character, allegedly based on him, says ‘satyameva jayate’ and makes an obscene gesture. He also claimed that the series was ‘deliberately conceptualised to malign’ him when cases involving him and Aryan were pending in courts.
For the unversed, Sameer Wankhede was the officer who had arrested Aryan Khan in a drug case in 2021 off the coast of Mumbai. Investigation had later given Aryan a clean chit in the case. The Ba***ds of Bollywood is Aryan’s directorial debut and was released on Netflix.
