Wankhede Defamation Suit Against Netflix series Over Jurisdiction 

Delhi High Court dismisses Sameer Wankhede’s suit against Aryan Khan’s series on jurisdictional grounds.

Beyond the Screen and the Bench

Can a courtroom in Delhi decide the fate of a story born in Mumbai? On Thursday, the Delhi High Court provided a cold, technical answer: No.

By dismissing Sameer Wankhede’s defamation suit against the Netflix series The Ba**ds of Bollywood, the court didn’t say the show was innocent. It simply said Wankhede was standing in the wrong room.

The Battle of Addresses 

The core of the dispute was surprisingly mundane for a case involving such high-voltage personalities.

Sameer Wankhede, the former NCB officer, argued that Delhi was the right place to fight because his professional life—his departmental inquiries and the media houses covering him—revolved around the capital.

The defense, led by heavyweights representing Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix, countered with a simpler logic. Wankhede lives in Mumbai. The production house is in Mumbai.

The events the show is allegedly based on happened in Mumbai. The court agreed. Justice Kaurav made it clear that “online availability” is not a magic wand that grants jurisdiction to any court in the country. To hold otherwise would open a floodgate of “forum shopping” where litigants pick courts they find most favorable.

The Gesture and the Slogan 

At the heart of Wankhede’s grievance is a specific, provocative scene in the series’s first episode. According to the suit, a character bearing a striking resemblance to Wankhede recites the national motto, “Satyamev Jayate,” only to follow it with an obscene gesture.

Wankhede’s legal team argued this wasn’t just artistic license; it was a violation of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971. This elevates the case from a personal spat to a matter of national sentiment.

By directing the show, Aryan Khan—the son of Shah Rukh Khan, whose arrest was orchestrated by Wankhede’s team years ago—has created a meta-narrative that is almost impossible to ignore. The suit claims the portrayal is a targeted strike disguised as entertainment.

The Strategic Delay

• The Jurisdiction Shield: While Netflix and Red Chillies won this round, they shouldn’t celebrate yet. This dismissal is a “return of plaint,” meaning Wankhede is free to file the exact same case in Mumbai. The battle hasn’t ended; it has just moved to a different stadium.
• The Threshold of Defamation: Netflix’s argument that defamation cannot be decided at an “interlocutory stage” (a preliminary stage) is a high bar for Wankhede to clear. Proving that a fictional character is definitively a real person in a court of law is notoriously difficult in India.
• The Philanthropic Angle: Wankhede’s request for ₹2 crore in damages to be donated to the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital is a calculated move. It frames the lawsuit as a quest for “clearing a name” rather than a “cash grab,” which could influence public perception as the case moves to the Bombay High Court.

Key Takeaways from the Delhi Ruling:

• No Merits Decided: The court expressed zero opinion on whether the show actually defamed Wankhede.
• Territorial Limits: The ruling reinforces that digital content creators cannot be sued in random jurisdictions just because their app works there.
• The Liberty to Refile: Wankhede has been granted the freedom to approach a “competent court,” almost certainly the Bombay High Court.

As the credits roll on this specific legal episode, the real drama shifts back to Mumbai. The Ba**ds of Bollywood continues to stream, but the shadow of the man who once led the NCB continues to loom over its narrative.