The Delhi High Court on Tuesday allowed former IRS officer Sameer Wankhede to pursue his defamation suit against the makers of the web series The Ba**ds of Bollywood before a civil court in Mumbai.
Bench of Justice Vikas Mahajan permitted Mr Wankhede to move the Mumbai court and directed all parties to appear before the City Civil and Sessions Court at Dindoshi, Malad, on February 12. The court said its order would be treated as a summons to the parties for the proceedings in Mumbai.
Mr Wankhede had approached the Delhi High Court alleging that the web series, produced by Shah Rukh Khan-owned Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt Ltd and streaming on Netflix, contained defamatory content against him.
The permission was granted after the Delhi High Court, on January 29, ruled that it did not have territorial jurisdiction to hear the case. A bench of Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav had returned the plaint, observing that since all parties were based in Mumbai and the alleged acts of defamation also took place there, Mumbai courts were the appropriate forum to hear the matter and Delhi HC lacked jurisdiction.
In his plea, Mr Wankhede claimed that the series was created to malign him and settle personal scores, alleging it was linked to the 2021 arrest of actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in a drugs case. He further alleged that the series, written and directed by Aryan Khan, was orchestrated to target him.
Mr Wankhede has sought an injunction against the release or airing of the allegedly defamatory content and damages of Rs 2 crore, which he has said should be donated to the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital.
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