Delhi HC Grants Aishwarya Rai Protection in Personality Rights Case

The court restrained unauthorised commercial use of the actor’s name, image and AI-generated content, directing intermediaries to take down infringing material

Team THR India
By Team THR India
LAST UPDATED: SEP 16, 2025, 14:22 IST|5 min read
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan at Cannes 2025
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

In a significant ruling, the Delhi High Court has granted actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan protection over her personality rights, restraining the unauthorised commercial use of her name, image, voice and other attributes. The decision comes just days after the actor approached the court seeking to curb misuse of her identity across websites and online platforms.

The case was heard by Justice Tejas Karia, who passed an ex parte ad interim injunction on 9 September. “In cases of unauthorised exploitation of one’s personality rights, the court cannot turn a blind eye and must protect the aggrieved parties to avert harm,” Justice Karia observed. The court noted that such misuse not only leads to financial loss but also undermines the dignity, reputation and goodwill of the celebrity involved.

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Senior advocate Sandeep Sethi, appearing for Rai, argued that her likeness and name were being exploited without consent — both for commercial purposes and in the creation of objectionable content. He drew the court’s attention to a company named Aishwarya Nation Wealth, which had falsely listed Rai as its chairperson. Sethi stressed that the actor had no association with the entity and that such misrepresentations created confusion and potential fraud.

The petition also flagged AI-generated and morphed images of the actor, including deepfakes circulated online, as a direct assault on her privacy and dignity. The court directed Google LLC to remove the URLs specified in the lawsuit within 72 hours and to submit subscriber information of the operators in a sealed cover. In addition, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology was instructed to block access to the infringing URLs within a week.

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The ruling is the latest in a series of cases where Indian courts have stepped in to protect celebrity personality rights, following similar orders in favour of Amitabh Bachchan, Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor. Legal experts view the decision as another step toward formal recognition of personality rights as part of the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution.

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