Former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede claimed in the Delhi High Court that he, his wife, and his sister are becoming the targets of trolling after the release of Aryan Khan‘s web series, The Ba***ds of Bollywood. Wankhede has sued the show and Netflix for defamation over what he claims is a character that parodies him.

Delhi HC issues summons to Red Chillies, Netflix

On Wednesday, after the hearing, the Delhi High Court issued notice to Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix over former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sameer Wankhede’s suit alleging defamation in their web series, The Ba***ds of Bollywood. The series has been created and directed by Aryan Khan, son of superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

Wankhede had filed his suit in the Delhi High Court last month, following which the court had dismissed his plea, calling it ‘not maintainable’. After the former NCB officer filed an amended suit, the court issued summons to the defendants. “We appreciate that there is cause in your favour to approach this court but there is a process to be followed,” the court said.

Wankhede questions trolling

Appearing for Wankhede, senior advocate Sandeep Sethi said, “In reference to the series, there are posts trolling me, my wife and my sister. Ex facie defamatory. It’s shocking. They (defendants) are surely not defending those posts.”

The Ba***ds of Bollywood, produced by Shah Rukh’s Red Chillies, released on Netflix last month. A satire on the Hindi film industry, the show features a ‘plain-clothed cop’, who raids a Bollywood party and detains an actor there even though he is not in possession of anything narcotic. After the show’s release, many viewers said that the cop bore a resemblance to Wankhede, a former NCB officer. In his suit, Wankhede claims the show has been “deliberately conceptualised and executed” with the intent to malign his reputation in a “colourable and prejudicial manner”.

Sameer Wankhede and Aryan Khan’s history

Wankhede was the officer who had arrested Aryan Khan in 2021 after a raid on a cruise ship. Aryan spent three weeks in jail, but later all charges were dropped against him. The Ba***ds of Bollywood marks his maiden foray into showbiz.