The plaintiff, actor Ajay Devgn, sued various defendants for impersonation, unauthorized sale of merchandise, and circulation of AI-generated deepfake and pornographic content misusing his name, image, voice and likeness. The Court held that his well-established celebrity status gives him protectable personality and publicity rights, and found prima facie infringement by defendants involved in impersonation, sale of merchandise, and AI-morphed content. Considering the irreparable harm and balance of convenience, the Court granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction directing takedown of infringing URLs, blocking of pornographic domains, cessation of misuse of his persona, and mandated platforms to provide BSI details and ensure compliance.
• Anil Kapoor v. Simply Life India & Ors., 2023 SCC OnLine Del 6914 — Protection against deepfakes and unauthorized digital exploitation of celebrity persona (Paras 38–40 referred in Para 50).
• Jaikishan Kaku Bhai Sarf Alias Jackie Shroff v. The Peppy Store & Ors., 2024 SCC OnLine Del 3664 — Personality rights include name, image, voice, likeness; protection against AI-generated obscene or unsavoury content (Para 50).
• Reference to statutory framework: Yamini Manohar v. T.K.D. Keerthi, (2024) 5 SCC 815 — Cited regarding exemption from pre-institution mediation (Para 10).
• Interpretation of obligations under Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 — Court emphasized mandatory first-resort takedown mechanism (Para 56)
Ajay alias Vishal Veeru Devgan Vs The Artists Planet : 27.11.2025: CS(COMM) 1269/2025: High Court of Delhii: Hon’ble Ms. Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora
[Readers are advised to exercise their own discretion as it may contain errors in perception, interpretation, and presentation. Written By: Advocate Ajay Amitabh Suman, IP Adjutor (Patent and Trademark Attorney), High Court of Delhi]
