Netflix Restrained From Releasing ‘Bad Boy Billionaires’ After Ramalinga Raju Obtains a Stay Order From SC

The upcoming Indian Netflix original web series focuses on the lives of four prominent business tycoons of India including Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Subrata Roy, and Ramalinga Raju. Although these controversial business personalities have achieved great success but they have also been accused of numerous corruption charges. The documentary has been mired in controversies due to the portrayal of major financial scams in India. Netflix unveiled the official trailer of the film on 24 August 2020 on its platform and it was reported that the trailer was removed subsequently due to legal issues.

Furthermore, the Supreme Court Bench issued a notice on a separate petition filed by Netflix seeking the transfer of petitions about the web series which are pending in various High Courts. The over the top (OTT) streaming service provider requested the Court to transfer the matters to itself from the High courts.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Sahara India, opposed Netflix’s case and said that the order was passed by a civil judge and thus an appeal would lie before the district judge and not before the High Court or the Supreme Court.

The controversial business bandits

Before Raju, Subrata Roy and Mehul Choksi approached the Indian Courts to seek a stay on the docuseries’ release. Roy, who is the main accused in the Sahara fraud case, succeeded in obtaining an interim stay preventing Netflix from using his name in the series. The Delhi High Court asked Netflix to consider granting Mehul Choksi, involved in the PNB scam, a pre-screening of the series.

Back in 2009, Raju was convicted in the Satyam scandal. He sought orders from the top Court to restrain Netflix from releasing the series on the ground that it would amount to unlawful invasion of his privacy. Raju, who was the company’s chairman, has been out on bail since 2015, also claimed in his petition that the narrative in the docuseries was one of “half-truths and was palpably designed to bring down his reputation”.

In January 2009, Raju confessed that Satyam’s books and profits were made up to the tune of several thousand crore rupees. He was arrested and later convicted in the scam, which was described as India’s biggest corporate fraud. However, a month later, the Metropolitan Sessions Court suspended his sentence and granted him bail.