In a strongly worded order that addresses the growing threat of artificial intelligence-driven impersonation and misrepresentation, the Bombay High Court has granted actor Suniel Shetty urgent ex-parte interim relief against the unauthorised use of his personality through deepfakes and AI-generated content.
Justice Arif S. Doctor, in an order passed on October 10 and made available on October 13, described the infringing material as “a lethal combination of a depraved mind and the misuse of technology, resultantly causing harm to the plaintiff’s personality rights.”
The court was hearing Mr. Shetty’s commercial IP suit seeking protection of his personality rights, privacy, and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution and the Copyright Act, 1957. The actor had approached the court after discovering a series of AI-generated images and videos circulating online that falsely depicted him and his family in obscene and misleading contexts. These were hosted on platforms operated by Meta and X Corp and promoted by various known and unknown entities.
Right to live with dignity
Justice Doctor held that “The unauthorised creation and uploading of deepfake images of the Plaintiff on social media platforms constitutes a grave infringement not only of his personality rights but also of his right to live with dignity.”
The court noted that such exploitation, especially when used to falsely associate the actor with gambling websites, astrology services, and commercial endorsements, amounted to misappropriation of goodwill and consumer deception.
The court restrained seven named defendants: John Doe/Ashok Kumar (defendant 1), MyBhavishyavaani (defendant 2), Tring.co.in (defendant 4), Iceposter.com (defendant 6), PaisaWapas.com (defendant 13), WallpaperCave.com (defendant 15), and BCGame.co.in (defendant 18), from using Mr. Shetty’s name, image, voice, likeness, signature, and other identifiable attributes across any medium, including AI-generated content, deepfake videos, voice-cloned audio, and metaverse environments.
Take down order to Meta, X
The court also directed Meta Platforms (defendant 3) and X Corp (defendant 19) to take down all infringing content listed in the plaint and to act on future take down requests from Shetty. They were further ordered to provide subscriber and seller information to assist in identifying infringers.
Justice Doctor emphasised the urgency of granting relief without prior notice to the defendants and noted, “Given the gravity and potential for irreversible harm and injury, this Court finds that the grant of injunction would be defeated by the delay of issuing notice, and thus, the present case warrants the immediate grant of ex-parte ad-interim reliefs.”
The judge further held that the petitioner had made out a strong prima facie case and that the balance of convenience lay entirely in Shetty’s favour.
Social media firms told to act swiftly
The court also invoked Rule 3(1) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which requires platforms to prevent the hosting of misleading, obscene, or impersonating content. This legal basis was used to direct Meta and X Corp to act swiftly.
In support of the relief sought, Mr. Shetty’s counsel, Dr. Birendra Saraf, cited several precedents where courts had recognised personality rights, including cases involving Asha Bhosle, Arijit Singh, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Karan Johar.
The court acknowledged Mr. Shetty’s stature as a public figure with over three decades in the film industry, a vast social media following, and brand endorsements. It held that the unauthorised exploitation of his personality attributes posed not only commercial harm but also a significant risk to the public, who may be misled into believing false endorsements.
“The unauthorised exploitation of these attributes, while directly harming the plaintiff’s commercial interests, right to privacy, and right to live with dignity, also poses a significant risk of harm to the public,” the order said.
The matter is next listed for hearing on November 17, 2025.
Published – October 13, 2025 10:40 pm IST
