In a significant legal ruling, the Delhi High Court announced on Friday that the defamation suit filed by former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede against The Ba**ds of Bollywood is “not maintainable” in Delhi. The court instructed him to revise the suit, indicating that he did not adequately establish jurisdiction for the complaint in Delhi. While Wankhede contended that the series was accessible to viewers in Delhi and that memes and reactions targeting him originated there, the court found this argument unpersuasive. Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav noted that the plaintiff had not convincingly demonstrated how the “cause of action” was connected to Delhi.
He remarked that had Wankhede presented stronger evidence of the defamatory content being particularly harmful in Delhi, the court might have viewed it differently. The judge permitted Wankhede to amend his suit but did not provide a hearing date, stating that the registry would schedule it once the amended documents are submitted. In his original complaint, Wankhede claimed that The Ba**ds of Bollywood depicted a character closely resembling him, portraying him and anti-narcotics officials unfavorably. He specifically referenced a scene where a character says “Satyamev Jayate” while gesturing with the middle finger, which he argued violated the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.
He sought various forms of relief, including removal of the content from a specific timestamp in Episode 1, permanent injunctions, declaratory orders, and ₹2 crore in damages, which he intended to donate to Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital. Additionally, the suit contended that this portrayal was prejudicial since the actual case involving Wankhede and Aryan Khan is still pending in Mumbai courts. This ruling considerably undermines Wankhede’s legal strategy as the Delhi High Court emphasized the importance of jurisdiction, requiring plaintiffs to demonstrate that the court has the authority to hear the case. Due to Wankhede’s failure to convincingly establish this connection in his initial filing, his case has been dismissed for the time being.
