Sameer Wankhede, senior IRS officer and former zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Mumbai, has sued Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt. Ltd owned by Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan, Netflix, and others at the Delhi High Court on defamation claims.
Wankhede has sought ₹2 crore in damages, alleging that Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan’s directorial debut series ‘The Ba**ds of Bollywood’ contains “false, malicious, and defamatory content” aimed at tarnishing his reputation.
Wankhede noted the series deliberately casts a misleading and negative image of anti-drug enforcement agencies, which in turn harms his professional credibility, per the Hindustan Times report.
The former NCB officer further claimed that the project was not only “deliberately conceptualised and executed with the intent to malign his reputation” but also timed in a prejudicial way, since legal proceedings involving him and Aryan Khan are still pending before the Bombay High Court and the NDPS Special Court in Mumbai. He argued that the portrayal unfairly targets him.
Who is Sameer Wankhede?
Sameer Wankhede is a 2008-batch officer of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS). Before joining the NCB, he worked with the National Investigation Agency and also served in the Air Intelligence Unit.
“Wankhede is apparently known for his no-nonsense attitude. When he was with the customs of the Mumbai Airport, he reportedly faced the tantrums of several celebrities attempting to evade customs duties and fines, but he used to make sure that there is no exception for anyone,” one of HindustanTimes.com’s reports read.
Wankhede is reportedly notorious for booking many celebrities, like once he nabbed singer Mika Singh with foreign currency.
What Wankhede’s lawsuit demands
Wankhede has sought that the ₹2 crore damages be directed to the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital to aid in the treatment of cancer patients in his suits. He has also asked the court to restrain the streaming and distribution of the series and to officially declare its content defamatory.