In a hearing that moved at a steady yet sharp pace, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday ordered a permanent injunction against an impersonator who had allegedly created a fake YouTube channel posing as a senior journalist from T.V. Today Network Limited. The case, which had been dragging for months due to the unknown identity of the accused creator, finally reached its decisive moment before Justice Tejas Karia.
Background
The lawsuit was triggered when the media company discovered a YouTube channel titled “@AnajanaomKashya”, which was using the photographs and doctored news clips of Plaintiff No. 2-one of its well-known anchors. The channel presented the content so convincingly that viewers could easily assume it belonged to the journalist herself.
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The plaintiffs argued that this impersonation wasn’t just a copyright issue. It was an attack on the journalist’s personality rights, a form of privacy and professional identity protection recognised in Indian law. The fake content, they said, was capable of misleading viewers and harming public trust.
On 20 June 2025, the Court had already granted an interim order directing Google (Defendant No. 1) to take down the channel and share the Basic Subscriber Information of the person behind it. Google complied, revealing an account linked to one Dr. Pooja.
But even after repeated attempts-emails, SMS, WhatsApp notifications-the person behind the account never appeared.
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Court’s Observations
Justice Karia noted early in the hearing that the imposter wasn’t just casually misusing photos. The judge pointed towards deliberate deception, remarking that impersonating a well-known journalist “is likely to result in enormous damage and dissemination of misinformation,” especially when such content carries no editorial checks.
Screenshots from the fake channel were presented in Court. They appeared to mix genuine newsroom visuals with fabricated stories. A few members in the courtroom quietly exchanged glances, as if imagining how easily viewers could be fooled.
The Court was particularly bothered by the intent behind the impersonation. “The bench observed, ‘The name and content structure of the channel clearly suggest an attempt to misappropriate the identity of Plaintiff No. 2.’”
Because the defendant never responded, never filed a written statement, and made no attempt to explain or justify the channel’s content, the Court had little difficulty concluding that the conduct was intentional and harmful.
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The plaintiffs, interestingly, told the Court they were not pressing for damages. They only wanted the impersonation stopped permanently.
Decision
The Court held that the plaintiffs had established a clear case of unauthorised use of identity and misleading content. With Defendant No. 1 (Google) already having complied with the earlier removal order, Justice Karia found no further action needed against the tech giant.
The impersonator, however, faced a direct and final order.
The Delhi High Court decreed the suit in favour of T.V. Today Network Limited, granting permanent injunction as requested in Paragraph 85(A) and 85(B) of the plaint-effectively barring the defendant from ever using the journalist’s photographs, videos, or likeness without permission.
With that, the matter was disposed of.
Case Title: T.V. Today Network Ltd. vs Google LLC & Ors. - Delhi High Court Stops Fake YouTube Channel Impersonating Journalist
Case Type: Intellectual property & personality rights infringement
Court: Delhi High Court
Judge: Justice Tejas Karia
Plaintiffs: T.V. Today Network Limited & its journalist (Plaintiff No. 2)
Defendants: Google LLC (D1) and unknown creator of fake YouTube channel (D2)
Date of Order: 11 November 2025
