In a striking development that highlights the growing clash between streaming giants and public figures, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday, October 8, took up a defamation lawsuit filed by IRS officer Sameer Wankhede against Red Chillies Entertainment for their portrayal of him in the upcoming Netflix series.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav promptly issued notices to the involved parties and scheduled the matter for deeper deliberation on October 30.

The case stems from Wankhede's allegations of a damaging depiction in the Hansal Mehta-directed "Scam 2010: The Subrata Roy Saga," which he claims tarnishes his reputation through baseless and hurtful elements.

Wankhede's legal team, led by advocate Sandeep Sethi, recently updated the complaint to encompass not just the officer but also his wife and sister, pointing to what they describe as offensive online posts by his ex-fiancée that further defame them. "The court however issued summons to be followed," the order noted, signaling a clear directive for the defendants to respond.

Representing the production side, senior advocate Navroz Seervai appeared alongside senior counsel Shyam Thampi for Red Chillies Entertainment, where the bench probed why the suit deserved to proceed in Delhi rather than elsewhere, citing the plaint's outlined justifications and the distributed nature of the alleged harms.

The defendants in the suit include major platforms like Netflix Corp, X (formerly Twitter) LLC, Google LLC, Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook), and Lifestyle Media Private Ltd, along with John Doe entities.

Wankhede is demanding Rs. 2 crores in compensation, which will be donated to Tata Memorial Cancer hospital for the treatment of Cancer patients. Beyond monetary relief, the petition urges a permanent ban on the broadcast of what it calls the "allegedly false, defamatory" video from the series, aiming to halt its release and curb wider dissemination of the contentious content.

At the heart of Wankhede's grievance is the assertion that the Netflix production was crafted with "deliberate intent to malign him in a most vulgar and repulsive manner," especially given the previous Bombay High Court and NDPS Special Court rulings in his favor. The suit zeroes in on a particularly inflammatory scene featuring an "obscene character" who performs crude gestures while displaying the slogan "Sayata Jayate," which Wankhede views as a direct assault on his dignity. This act, as per the filing, amounts to a severe breach of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, inviting potential criminal penalties under the law.

Moreover, the complaint argues that the series' material infringes upon the Information Technology Act by propagating "obscene and offensive" content through Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), leading to calls for its swift excision from online spaces. The entire episode, plaintiffs contend, risks broader societal harm by sensationalizing facts in a way that violates ethical and legal boundaries.

Case Details: SAMEER DNYANDEV WANKHEDE v. RED CHILLIES ENTERTAINMENTS PVT. LTD. & ORS