Delhi HC summons Red Chillies Ent., Netflix in Sameer Wankhede's defamation suit over Aryan Khan's The Ba***ds of Bollywood

Aryan, who made his directorial debut with the series, is Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav issued summons to the defendants- Red Chillies Entertainment owner Gauri Khan, who also happens to be Shah Rukh Khan's wife, Netflix, X Corp., Google LLC, Meta Platforms, RPG Lifestyle Media Private Limited, and John Doe.

They have been asked to respond within seven days.

In a scene from the series, an anti-drug enforcement agency officer comes to a Bollywood party to launch a crackdown on drugs.

The officer tries to arrest a man smoking a joint but when he learns the individual was not from Bollywood, he gets irritated.

The officer then diverts his attention to another person, a Bollywood member who was drinking, and arrests him.

A section of netizens and the audience viewed the scene as a parody of Wankhede, who was the zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai at the time Aryan was arrested by the agency following a raid on a party aboard a cruise ship (Cordelia Cruises) off the coast of Mumbai in 2021.

Aryan, now 27, was cleared by the NCB in 2022.

Wankhede has demanded Rs. 2 crore in damages over the show which he claimed has "false, malicious and defamatory content" aimed to tarnish his image.

He has alleged the series has portrayed the anti-drug enforcement agencies in a negative light.

Aryan's web series, which features Bobby Deol, Lakshya Lalwani, Raghav Juyal, Sahher Bambba and Anya Singh in key characters, released on Netflix on September 18. The show has garnered positive reviews.