Gangster Ejaz Yusuf Lakdawala, currently lodged in Bombay Central Prison, has filed a criminal defamation complaint against filmmaker Prakash Jha (seen in picture above), alleging that the director used his photograph in web series Aashram to depict him as having links to a drug cartel, without his consent. The complaint was filed before the 13th court of the first class magistrate at Sewree in Bombay under section 223 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNNS). It seeks prosecution under section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for criminal defamation.
According to the complaint, the objectionable scene appears in season 3 part 2, episode 5, which was released on February 27, 2025. Lakdawala claimed that he has never been involved in any drug-related offence. Although Ejaz Lakdawala describes himself as a businessman, he has been widely identified in police records and media reports as an alleged gangster and former associate of underworld dons Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan.
