Aprominent Indian-American Brooklyn lawyer is suing “Law and Order” -claiming the show defamed him by creating a crooked lawyer character with the same first name, nationality, facial hair and even the same bald spot.
Ravi Batra, a political kingmaker who lives in New Rochelle, is seeking $15 million from the program, its creator Dick Wolf, and NBC.
He claims “Law and Order” “ripped from the headlines” the real-life story of crooked lawyer Paul Siminovski, who has testified about bribing a Brooklyn judge, Gerald Garson, to decide divorce cases in his favor.
The program, which was first broadcast last November, then slapped the name “Ravi Patel” on the character, describing him as “This hotshot Indian guy. A real smoothie.”
The TV “Ravi” had “gender, ethnic, and many physical similarities with real-life plaintiff Ravi Batra,” the lawsuit, filed yesterday, claims -including that the character is “bald, with hair on the sides, and with facial hair.”
Batra has been a well-known figure for years in the Brooklyn courts, and has served on the Brooklyn Democratic Party’s judicial screening committee.
But Batra himself was investigated, and never charged, after Garson accused him of being involved in a cash-for-judgeships scandal that rocked Brooklyn last year.
Batra had close ties at the time to disgraced Brooklyn Democratic Leader Clarence Norman.
Batra has previously sued the judge for allegedly smearing his reputation with the accusations.
“We haven’t seen the lauwsuit so we can’t comment on specifics, but this episode, like all ‘Law & Order’ episodes, is fictional,” said an NBC spokesman.


