The Indian Revenue Service officer and former Mumbai, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director, Sameer Wankhede, has sued Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., the production house owned by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan, along with the international streaming service provider Netflix, among others, over the alleged libel. This lawsuit comes after the release of a series titled Bads of Bollywood directorial debut of Aryan Khan, which Wankhede charges has defamatory and misleading content.
Wankhede, in his petition, prays for 2 crore in damages based on the allegations that the series has made false, malicious and defamatory representations with an attempt to defame his professional reputation. The ex-NCB employee claimed that the show portrays an inaccurate and negative view of the anti-drug enforcers and sets a false perception on the issue that might hurt the image of his work and career.
Wankhede and his move are representative of the rise of concern amongst those who hold power in society over how they are depicted by the popular media, including any production that has a global reach via the services of platforms such as Netflix. His complaint states that the portrayal of the series erodes the credibility and integrity of the officers who are tasked with law enforcement, especially those who work on drug-related cases, and negatively implicates them with the unethical behaviour.
The defamation case is directed at the production house and the streaming service, highlighting the role of the content creators and distributors in making sure that the facts are factual, in particular when real people are portrayed or mentioned. Wankhede is also turning to the court by filing an appeal with the Delhi High Court to defend his personal and professional reputation; to make the creators pay up to what he claims is harmful content.
The case has attracted the attention of the entertainment community and the legal community, and larger questions have been raised on the topic of freedom of creative expression versus the rights of people against potentially harmful images.
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