New Delhi — The Delhi High Court has permitted Indian Revenue Service officer Sameer Wankhede to pursue his defamation lawsuit against a Netflix series referencing the Aryan Khan drugs case before a Mumbai court, holding that it lacks territorial jurisdiction to hear the matter.
The case was heard by Justice Vikas Mahajan, who allowed Wankhede’s application seeking liberty to present his plaint before a competent court in Mumbai. The court directed the parties to appear before the Mumbai court on February 12, the date on which Wankhede intends to institute the suit.
During the proceedings, counsel for Wankhede drew the court’s attention to a January 29 order passed by Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav, under which the plaint had been returned in accordance with the Civil Procedure Code, granting him permission to approach the appropriate forum. Acting on this liberty, Wankhede moved an application under Order VII Rule 10A of the CPC to facilitate the formal transfer of the case to Mumbai.
Allowing the application, the court observed that all procedural requirements had been duly complied with and formally cleared the way for the suit to be pursued before the City Civil Court in Mumbai.
Wankhede had earlier approached the Delhi High Court alleging that a character depicted in the first episode of the Netflix series The Ba*ds of Bollywood, produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and streamed on Netflix, was a thinly veiled and defamatory portrayal of him. The series is linked to events surrounding the Aryan Khan drugs case.
He sought directions for the removal of, or restraint on, certain scenes, contending that the portrayal had caused serious damage to his reputation and dignity. According to Wankhede, the character’s appearance, behaviour, and mannerisms bore an unmistakable resemblance to him and had been widely identified as such in media reports.
The defendants, however, raised a preliminary objection on territorial jurisdiction, arguing that the suit should have been filed in Mumbai since Wankhede resides there and Red Chillies Entertainment’s registered office is also located in the city. They further maintained that the series is a fictional and satirical work and does not recreate the Cordelia cruise raid.
Accepting these submissions, Justice Kaurav had earlier ruled that the Delhi High Court could not entertain the suit and ordered the plaint to be returned. With the latest order, that decision has now been procedurally operationalised, enabling Wankhede to continue his legal challenge in Mumbai.
