‘Defamatory’: Sameer Wankhede Sues Shah Rukh Khan Over Aryan Khan’s ‘The Ba*ds Of Bollywood’

IRS officer Sameer Wankhede has taken his battle with the Khan family to the Delhi High Court, filing a defamation suit against Shah Rukh Khan, Gauri Khan, their production house Red Chillies Entertainment, and Netflix over the new series, “The Ba***ds Of Bollywood” . Wankhede, the former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer who arrested Aryan Khan in the 2021 cruise ship drug case, has alleged that the show, directed by Aryan, is a “false, malicious, and defamatory” attempt to malign his reputation and has sought Rs 2 crore in damages .

In his plea, Wankhede claims the series was “deliberately conceptualised and executed with the intent to malign” his name, especially while the legal case involving him and Aryan Khan remains sub-judice . He argues that the show disseminates a “misleading and negative portrayal of anti-drug enforcement agencies, thereby eroding public confidence in law enforcement institutions” . Wankhede has stated that if awarded the Rs 2 crore in damages, he will donate the entire amount to the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital .

The controversy centers on a specific scene in the series that has been widely interpreted on social media as a direct dig at Wankhede . In the sequence, an officer who bears a resemblance to Wankhede barges into a party and targets a man simply because he is from Bollywood, while letting another person who was actually smoking a joint go free because he was not part of the film industry .

The legal showdown is the latest chapter in the long-running saga that began in October 2021, when an NCB team led by Wankhede arrested Aryan Khan for alleged drug possession on a cruise ship . The case later took a dramatic turn when Wankhede himself was accused by the CBI of attempting to extort Rs 25 crore from the Khan family in exchange for leniency, an allegation he has denied .

Wankhede’s lawsuit also highlights another controversial scene where a character makes an obscene gesture—showing a middle finger—after reciting the national slogan “Satyamev Jayate,” which he claims is a grave violation of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act .