BJP MP and actor Kangana Ranaut has approached the Delhi High Court seeking the removal of obscene and AI-generated material allegedly circulated online, as the court considers interim protection for her personality and publicity rights.
Justice Vikas Mahajan issued summons to the parties named as defendants in Ms. Ranaut’s plea on October 8 and indicated that the court would consider passing an interim order. The case centres on content that her lawyer said included sexually explicit and pornographic graphics, fake news and AI-generated material falsely attributing statements to her.
The petition places synthetic and manipulated online content within a growing category of personality-rights disputes before the Delhi High Court. These cases concern the unauthorised use of a public figure’s name, image, voice, likeness or other identifying attributes, including where such use is linked to commercial exploitation or misleading online communication.
Ms. Ranaut’s lawyer told the court that objectionable memes and satirical material were also in circulation. However, the actor and MP was not seeking relief against such content at the interim stage, according to the report. The distinction leaves the immediate proceedings focused on material alleged to be obscene, misleading, impersonating or generated through artificial intelligence.
The court also issued summons in a separate personality-rights case filed by Telugu actor Vijay Deverakonda and said an interim order would be considered in that matter. His counsel alleged that third parties had commercially exploited his identity without authorisation, including through merchandise featuring elements associated with his persona.
The Deverakonda case also raised allegations involving AI-generated social media posts, impersonation, false endorsements and abusive language. Taken together, the two matters show how disputes before the court are moving beyond conventional unauthorised photographs or branding to include digitally generated material and online identities that can be reproduced at scale.
Several other public figures have previously approached the Delhi High Court for protection of their personality and publicity rights. They include actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Salman Khan; Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar; journalist Sudhir Chaudhary; podcaster Raj Shamani; Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan; and cricketer Abhishek Sharma. The High Court has granted interim protection to these public figures in their respective cases.
The immediate legal question in the Ranaut and Deverakonda matters is whether interim relief should be granted while the cases proceed. The court’s next step will determine the scope of any temporary directions concerning the alleged online content and the unauthorised use of the two public figures’ identities.
