The Delhi High Court on Wednesday agreed to protect the personality rights of industrialist Sanjiv Goen, owner of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Lucknow Super Giants.
The court was hearing a plea filed by Sanjiv Goenka regarding offensive content on social media during the ongoing IPL season, the Bar and Bench said.
Goenka’s lawyer has reportedly flagged several instances of posts abusing his likeness through morphed images circulating online.
Read also | The Delhi High Court has cracked down on the misuse of Aniruddhacharya’s identity online
Senior advocate Sandeep Sethi, appearing for Goenka, told the Delhi High Court that his likeness had been misused through a series of morphed images and videos, many of which created false stories about incidents that never happened.
According to the Bar and Bench, Sethi pointed out several instances where Goenka’s face was covered by other persons, including fabricated depictions suggesting violent or inappropriate behaviour.
“It was argued that the content, widely shared in the context of IPL discussions, was defamatory and went beyond permissible humor or satire,” the report added.
Read also | Win for Gautam Gambhir in personality rights case; here is what Delhi HC ordered
“This is not just humor or parody,” his lawyer said.
The lawyer further argued that while a certain degree of parody may be acceptable, the content in question misrepresents the reality and has an impact not only on Goenka’s reputation but also on the institutions and employees associated with him.
“Chilling Effect on Free Speech”
During the hearing, the court also dealt with the limits of freedom of speech.
The court noted that public figures must face comments and even pardons, and “no one can say that no one should use my name or image at all.”
But at the same time, Bench made it clear that when content involves morphing faces and creating fake stories, it crosses into undesirable territory.
Read also | Delhi HC grants interim personality rights protection to podcaster Raj Shamani
Was social media to blame?
The social media intermediaries told the Delhi High Court that they are not content creators and act as neutral hosts, according to the Bar and Bench.
They argued that their obligations arose only on special legal notice consistent with safe harbor protections.
Read also | AI selfies with Bollywood celebrities? A personal rights dispute could land you in court
They also warned against the abuse of such injunctions, saying that broad guidelines to publish user details or takedowns could have a chilling effect on free speech, especially in cases involving public figures and ongoing public events.
They have proposed a balanced mechanism where content can be reported to them for takedown, with the possibility of going to court in case of disputes.
What did the Delhi HC rule?
After reviewing the submissions, the court noted that a balance must be struck between freedom of expression and protection of reputation.
It proceeded to grant protection to Goenka’s personality rights.
The court also said it would consider directing the release of basic subscriber information and IP logs to determine the origin of content.
Read also | Senior Living: Understanding Business Models in Indian Senior Living
What happens when your privacy rights are protected?
Under the law, personality rights protect a person’s name, likeness, image, voice, signature or other identifiable aspects of their personality from unauthorized commercial use, Mint reported earlier.
These rights are not expressly codified, but are recognized through common law principles relating to privacy, defamation, and the right of publicity, and have been reinforced by judicial precedents.
Courts can issue injunctions, damages or takedowns to prevent abuse in advertising, merchandise, AI-generated content or online platforms.
