Highlights:
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Former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede files defamation suit against Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix.
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Lawsuit claims a character in Aryan Khan’s directorial debut is a defamatory portrayal of Wankhede.
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Wankhede seeks damages of £16,800 (₹2 crore), to be donated to Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital.
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Legal plea argues the show undermines anti-drug enforcement agencies and violates the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act.
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Case traces back to the 2021 Cordelia cruise ship drug raid in which Aryan Khan was arrested.
Former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede has filed a defamation case in an Indian court against actor Shah Rukh Khan, his production house Red Chillies Entertainment, and Netflix. The case is linked to Aryan Khan’s directorial debut, The Ba**ds of Bollywood*, which Wankhede alleges includes a “false, malicious, and defamatory” portrayal of him.
The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction on the broadcast of the series and damages of £16,800 (₹2 crore), which Wankhede has said should be donated to the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital.
Allegations in the complaint
The complaint points to a character in the show — a narcotics officer who storms a Bollywood party — which viewers have associated with Wankhede. According to the filing, this portrayal was “deliberately conceptualised and executed with the intent to malign” his reputation.
The plea also highlights a scene in which the officer character makes an obscene gesture after saying “Satyamev Jayate,” which Wankhede argues violates the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act.
The officer in the show is depicted as part of the “NCG,” a fictional agency resembling the NCB. The filing states that the series spreads a “misleading and negative portrayal of anti-drug enforcement agencies, thereby eroding public confidence in law enforcement institutions.”
Background to the dispute
The case connects to the October 2021 raid on the Cordelia Empress cruise ship, which Wankhede led in his capacity as NCB’s Mumbai zonal director. Shah Rukh Khan’s son, Aryan Khan, was arrested during the operation and spent more than three weeks in jail before receiving bail. He was later cleared of all charges.
The incident drew wide media coverage at the time and remains under judicial consideration. Wankhede’s lawsuit notes that dramatizing these events in the series has revived the controversy in a way that damages both him and enforcement agencies.
Next steps
The case will be heard in the Delhi High Court, where Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix are required to respond.
For Netflix, this represents another legal challenge in India over streaming content. For Shah Rukh Khan and his family, the dispute reopens one of the most publicized episodes of their lives, bringing them back into conflict with the officer who led the 2021 raid.
The court will now have to decide whether the series’ depiction qualifies as satire or crosses into defamation.
