On February 3, 2026, the Delhi High Court granted liberty to former Indian Revenue Service officer Sameer Wankhede to pursue a defamation case against the Netflix series The Ba**ads of Bollywood in a competent court in Mumbai, holding that the national capital court lacked territorial jurisdiction to hear the case.
Delhi HC allows Sameer Wankhede to take The Ba**ds of Bollywood case to Mumbai court
Wankhede’s suit, which was originally filed in the Delhi High Court, alleged that the web series directed by Aryan Khan and produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix featured a character who resembled him and contained content which he claimed was defamatory and harmful to his reputation.
During the latest hearing, Justice Vikas Mahajan accepted Wankhede’s application under the Code of Civil Procedure, allowing him to present his plea before the City Civil and Sessions Court, Dindoshi in Mumbai. The court said the Delhi High Court does not have territorial jurisdiction over the case and directed both parties to appear in the Mumbai court on February 12, when Wankhede was planning to file the suit.
Wankhede’s original petition alleges that certain scenes in the first episode of The Ba**ads of Bollywood portray in a misleading or derogatory manner a character who is based on him, particularly in relation to his role in high-profile law enforcement cases. He has sought to remove or withhold specific scenes and damages, saying the depictions have harmed his reputation.
The high-profile controversy stems from The Ba**ads of Bollywood, a satirical series based on events surrounding the prosecution of Aryan Khan in the 2021 cruise ship drugs case. The Wankhede trial has attracted public attention because of the personalities involved and the widespread debate about the limits of satire and fictional portrayal in dramatic depictions of real-life events and persons.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court had dismissed Wankhede’s defamation plea on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction, leading to an application to transfer the case to the court of appropriate venue. With the latest order, the case will now proceed in Mumbai, where the defendants, including Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix, will have to respond.
