On September 26, 2025, the Delhi High Court questioned the maintainability of a defamation suit filed by Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Sameer Wankhede. The suit targets the Netflix series ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’, directed by Aryan Khan and produced by Red Chillies Entertainment. The court specifically inquired how the case was maintainable in its jurisdiction and whether any part of the cause of action originated in Delhi. Wankhede argued that the web series’ availability and viewership across cities, including Delhi, constituted defamation within the Capital. Consequently, the court directed Wankhede to amend his plea to explicitly demonstrate how a valid cause of action arose in Delhi. Wankhede, who headed the 2021 Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) cruise ship raid that resulted in Aryan Khan’s arrest, alleges that the series personally maligns him, seeks to discredit anti-drug enforcement agencies through negative portrayal, and violates the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.
Source: www.thehindu.com