Delhi HC issues summons on Sameer Wankhede’s defamation suit against Red Chillies

A bench of justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav asked Red Chillies Entertainment, Netflix, Google, X, and Meta platforms to file their response by October 30 — the next date of hearing.

The court also issued notice in Wankhede’s application seeking interim relief, including taking down content from Episode 1 of the series-created, co-written, and directed by Aryan Khan-specifically from the timestamp 32:02 to 33:50, which features a character who he claimed closely resembles him in both appearance and mannerisms.

The character is portrayed as a law enforcement officer using a private vehicle, sporting a luxury belt and wristwatch, and keen to target individuals connected to the film industry.

Though Wankhede’s lawyer, Sandeep Sethi, urged the court to order immediate takedown of the allegedly defamatory posts based on the show, the court said the matter would be considered on the next date.

“We appreciate Mr Sethi that there is some cause in your favour, but there is a process also which we need to follow,” justice Kaurav said to Sethi.

Wankhede, in his suit, has asserted that the character in the content-wearing a luxury belt and wristwatch-depicts him as an officer of doubtful integrity and bears an oblique reference to certain baseless allegations against him, which are the subject matter of pending proceedings. It went on to add that the content targets him personally and ridicules the NCB.

“The defamatory content appears nothing short of a calculated and vindictive ‘hit job’ orchestrated to target and malign the plaintiff. The manner in which the defamatory content was visualised and produced with innuendo-laden dialogues, suggestive editing with specific focus on negative elements of the character, makes it manifestly clear that the defamatory content was not produced and broadcast in good faith or for any legitimate purpose,” the suit said.

The content, the officer has asserted, disseminates a misleading and negative portrayal of anti-drug enforcement agencies, and has purposefully and intentionally crafted a character with the sole intent to connect him.

In October 2021, Wankhede arrested Aryan Khan after raiding the Cordelia yacht in Mumbai. The NCB in 2022 exonerated Khan and five others as it filed a charge sheet against 14 people in the case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of NCB found no evidence that Aryan Khan was part of a larger drug conspiracy or an international trafficking syndicate, and noted several irregularities in the raid during which he was arrested.

Wankhede later came under the scrutiny of multiple agencies, including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), in July 2023, for allegedly demanding a ₹25 crore bribe from Shah Rukh Khan in exchange for not implicating Aryan Khan in the case. In 2022, his tenure with the NCB ended, and he was sent back to his parent organisation, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence.