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The Delhi High Court has granted interim protection to actor and Member of Parliament Ravi Kishan in a suit alleging unauthorized use of his name, image, voice, and other personality attributes across social media platforms, websites, and AI-generated content. Holding that the plaintiff had established a prima facie case, the Court restrained several defendants from exploiting his personality rights and directed the removal of specified online content.
Background of the Case
The suit was filed by Ravindra Shukla, popularly known by his screen name "Ravi Kishan", seeking protection of his personality and publicity rights under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and the Copyright Act, 1957. He alleged that various online accounts and websites had used his name, image, likeness, voice, and other identifying attributes without authorization.
According to the plaint, the disputed content included AI-generated videos, altered audio-visual material, misleading social media posts, and other online material allegedly exploiting his public identity. The plaintiff also claimed that certain websites had used his name in connection with objectionable content, which, according to him, harmed his reputation and commercial goodwill built over more than three decades.
Court's Observations
Justice Jyoti Singh observed that Ravi Kishan had established a long-standing public reputation through his work in cinema, television, and public life, making his name and persona closely associated with him.
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The Court noted that personality rights are now judicially recognized and deserve protection from unauthorized commercial exploitation.
The bench observed:
“Plaintiff has the exclusive right to protect the various attributes of his personality such as name, image, voice, likeness and restrain third parties from using and commercially exploiting these attributes without his express permission and authority.”
Referring to earlier Delhi High Court decisions on personality rights, the Court further observed that unauthorized use of a celebrity's identity may not only result in commercial harm but can also affect the individual's privacy, dignity, and reputation.
The Court found that, at this stage, the plaintiff had made out a prima facie case for interim protection. It also held that the balance of convenience was in his favour and that denial of interim relief could cause irreparable injury.
Court's Decision
Granting an ex parte ad interim injunction, the Delhi High Court restrained the concerned defendants, including unidentified persons (John Does), from using or exploiting Ravi Kishan's name, image, likeness, voice, or any other identifiable aspect of his personality for commercial or personal gain through any medium, including Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, Machine Learning, Deepfakes, or social media platforms.
The Court also restrained the defendants from posting audio-visual material using the plaintiff's personality attributes in connection with vulgar, obscene, or otherwise objectionable content.
Additionally, the Court directed the concerned defendants and domain name registrars to remove the URLs listed in Annexure-A of the order within three days. If the content was not taken down, the plaintiff was permitted to notify intermediary platforms, including Meta, Google, and X, which were directed to initiate takedown action concerning the relevant URLs within 72 hours of receiving such intimation.
The matter will now proceed in accordance with further hearings before the Court.
Case Details
Case Title: Ravindra Shukla Alias Ravi Kishan v. Ashok Kumar (John Doe) & Ors.
Case Number: CS(COMM) 680/2026
Judge: Justice Jyoti Singh
Decision Date: July 2, 2026
