IRS officer and former NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede moved the Delhi High Court, filing a defamation suit against Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment, Netflix, and others over the series ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’.
Wankhede files defamation case
In his suit, Wankhede alleges the show contains “false, malicious and defamatory” content that damages his reputation. His plea seeks a permanent and mandatory injunction, a declaration, and damages of Rs 2 crore. He requested that the amount be donated to Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital for cancer patients.“This series disseminates a misleading and negative portrayal of anti-drug enforcement agencies, thereby eroding public confidence in law enforcement institutions,” Advocate Aditya Giri, one of the lawyers representing Wankhede, argued. The plea further claimed the series was “deliberately conceptualised and executed with the intent to malign Wankhede’s reputation in a colourable and prejudicial manner,” especially as the Aryan Khan drugs case remains sub judice before the Bombay High Court and the NDPS Special Court in Mumbai.
Anurag Kashyap ‘s throwback interview resurfaces
Amid the ongoing legal battle, a throwback interview of filmmaker Anurag Kashyap with journalist Faye D’Souza has resurfaced online. In the 2021 interview, the director spoke candidly about his past run-ins with Wankhede.“Everybody has had a very bad experience (with Sameer Wankhede),” Kashyap said. Questioning leaks in the Aryan Khan case, he asked, “Why is it that certain news media, gets information of the investigation out, before it has officially been put out by NCB? And then NCB denies it. Have you seen the agenda? The officer in charge is Sameer Wankhede.”Recalling his own experience, Kashyap claimed, “Sameer Wankhede is the man who was with the Service Tax in Customs. He loves invading Bollywood. He was the man who froze my bank account for two years. When I dragged them to court, 15 minutes before my court hearing, my bank account was defreezed, after two years of putting me in trouble. I was told on my face that I was being made an example out of. The article came out on Mumbai Mirror.“He went on to add, “You search this man, he is always associated with Bollywood. You see any media reports, you see Sameer Wankhede giving out comments. He loves making a statement.”When asked if the film industry was being threatened by Wankhede, Kashyap replied: “No, not this one man, he is being used. I just feel that everybody is being used. It’s a distraction.”
Why Kashyap’s accounts were frozen
Back in 2013, the service tax department froze Kashyap’s bank accounts allegedly for his failure to pay Rs 55 lakh service tax. At the time, reports stated that Kashyap owed Rs 70 lakh, of which he paid Rs 15 lakh. Effective July 2012, professionals such as film directors had to pay service tax of 12.36%, Commissioner R Sekar said.Wankhede, who was assistant commissioner at the time, said the department was probing his firm, Anurag Kashyap Films, and a firm in which he had interests.
About Wankhede’s petition
In Wankhede’s petition filed on Thursday, he also pointed to one scene in particular, alleging it depicted a character making an obscene gesture after reciting “Satyamev Jayate,” part of India’s National Emblem. The act, it argued, constitutes a violation of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, attracting penal consequences.
