The Delhi high court recently directed Mehul Choksi, accused in the Rs. 13,500-crore Punjab National Bank scam, to first deposit Rs. 2 lakh with it within a week before it hears his plea against Bad Boy Billionaires, a docu-series streaming on Netflix. According to Choksi, there is a two-minute footage about him in the series, which allegedly showed him in bad light and could, therefore, affect the various proceedings against him in India. Choksi had appealed against a single judge order dismissing his plea against the series.
A bench of Justices Vibhu Bakhru and Amit Mahajan directed him to deposit Rs. 2 lakh with the HC registry to secure the cost of the proceedings. “This court is of the view that in the event the appellant (Choksi) does not prevail in the present appeal, and costs are awarded to the respondents (Union of India and Netflix), there, perhaps, would be no method of recovering the same. This court considers it apposite to direct, before these proceedings are taken, the appellant to deposit a sum of Rs. 2 lakh within a period of one week (from the day of the order) with the registry of this court to secure the costs of the present proceeding,” the bench said. It added, “It is pointed out that the appellant is neither a citizen of India nor a resident of India. In addition, it is also submitted that there are several other proceedings pending against the appellant, including for payment of dues, which have not been discharged.
Choksi, who left the country in 2019 and was granted the citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda, said in his appeal that he was only seeking that the matter be remanded to the single judge who had dismissed his plea.
The single judge had on August 28, 2020 denied relief to Mehul Choksi, saying a writ petition for enforcement of a private right was not maintainable. The judge had said, Choksi’s remedy lay in a civil suit and granted him the liberty to raise the issue therein.
Netflix had opposed Choksi’s earlier plea, saying that it was not maintainable as the HC had in the past held that OTT or internet video streaming platforms could not be regulated, and the only option was to file a civil suit.