Delhi HC reserves order on Wankhede’s plea against Aryan Khan’s ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday reserved its order on a plea by IRS officer Sameer Wankhede seeking an interim injunction on the series The Ba**ds of Bollywood*, produced by Shah Rukh Khan-owned Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt Ltd.

Wankhede has sought that the series, which he has alleged to be defamatory, be taken down from several websites.

Justice Purushaindra Kaurav, after hearing all parties in the matter, framed two questions to be decided at this stage and reserved the order on the interim plea.

The two questions framed by the court are whether the suit is maintainable in Delhi and whether the impugned depiction, when viewed as a whole in context, prima facie crosses the threshold and turns from protected artistic expression into actionable harm to the plaintiff's reputation.

Is the suit maintainable in Delhi?

Wankhede's counsel submitted that the suit is maintainable in Delhi as "his relatives who have viewed the show reside here, departmental proceedings against him are pending here and the media houses which published the articles against him are also based in the city."

Red Chillies Entertainment and OTT platform Netflix opposed the plea, saying it lacked territorial jurisdiction and the suit should have been filed in Mumbai instead of Delhi.

Netflix contended that the show exposes Bollywood culture, satire and dark comedy and cannot be injuncted in a defamation suit. "The officer should not be oversensitive about a one-and-a-half-minute satire scene when he himself admits it is satire," it said.

Netflix further added that "the threshold of defamation in such cases is very high which cannot be proved at an interlocutory stage and the plaintiff has to prove it during the trial only when he will get damages."

Red Chillies also opposed Wankhede's plea, saying the officer was indulging in "forum-shopping" by choosing courts according to his convenience. It argued that "instead of Delhi, it should have been filed in Mumbai as Wankhede resides there and even the company's registered office is in Mumbai."

Does the series cross the threshold of defamation?

In its reply to Wankhede's interim application, Red Chillies said the series was a "satire" and such depiction is permitted in law as a legitimate form of artistic expression and social commentary.

On the content of the series, Red Chillies said it "touches upon various controversies in the Bollywood industry, such as nepotism, paparazzi culture, adultery and struggles faced by newcomers with undertones of satirical elements and parody."

Wankhede, in his rejoinder to Red Chillies, said the "defamatory content" was created to settle personal scores with him and avenge the arrest of Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in a 2021 drugs case. He added that the series, "written and directed by Aryan Khan, was orchestrated to target and malign him."

Wankhede has sued Red Chillies and Netflix for defamation and sought Rs 2 crore in damages, which he wants donated to the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital for cancer patients.

The High Court had earlier issued notices and summons to Red Chillies Entertainment Private Limited, Netflix, X Corp (formerly Twitter), Google LLC, Meta Platforms, RPSG Lifestyle Media Private Limited and John Doe in the defamation suit and asked them to file their replies within seven days.

The plea submitted that the series "disseminates a misleading and negative portrayal of anti-drug enforcement agencies, eroding public confidence in law enforcement institutions."

It further claimed that the series depicts a character making an obscene gesture, specifically showing a middle finger, after the character recites the slogan "Satyamev Jayate", which is part of the National Emblem. This act "constitutes a grave and sensitive violation of the provisions of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, which attracts penal consequences under law," the plea said.

Agency inputs