Former NCB officer and current IRS officer Sameer Wankhede has taken legal action against Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan, alleging that Aryan Khan’s Netflix directorial debut, The ‘Ba***ds of Bollywood’, tarnishes his reputation. Wankhede has demanded damages of ₹2 crore, which he said would be donated to cancer patients.

What does the complaint say?

According to Wankhede, the Netflix series was “deliberately conceptualised and executed with the intent to malign Sameer Wankhede’s reputation in a colourable and prejudicial manner” and created a negative image of anti-drug enforcement agencies.

He pointed out a scene in which an officer enters a glamorous party, sees a man smoking a joint but ignores him since he is not linked to Bollywood, and instead arrests another person from the industry who was not using drugs.

Who is Sameer Wankhede?

Wankhede belongs to the 2008 batch of the Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Indirect Taxes). He has worked in several central agencies, including the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU). He also served as the Zonal Director of the Narcotics Control Bureau’s Mumbai unit.

He became a well-known name in 2021 when he headed the Cordelia cruise drug case that led to the arrest of Aryan Khan, son of Shah Rukh Khan. Aryan spent 25 days in jail before being granted bail and later cleared of all charges.

Extortion allegations and CBI case

The case later took a dramatic turn when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) accused Wankhede of trying to extort ₹25 crore from the Khan family in exchange for leniency. According to the CBI, part of this amount, ₹50 lakh, was already paid.

The CBI booked Wankhede and others under sections related to criminal conspiracy (120-B IPC), threat of extortion (388 IPC), and bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Wankhede has strongly denied the allegations.

Reports also surfaced of alleged WhatsApp exchanges between Shah Rukh Khan and Wankhede. In those chats, Shah Rukh Khan was said to have “pleaded with him as a father,” worried that Aryan’s “spirit would be broken” if he remained in jail.

In response, Wankhede reportedly told the actor that he wanted to adopt a “reformative approach” towards Aryan. The officer included these chats in his petition before the Bombay High Court, insisting they showed he was not involved in any extortion. He also denied leaking the messages.