The Delhi High Court, presided over by Justice Jyoti Singh, issued an interim order on 7 July 2026 protecting the personality rights of actor and Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Ravi Kishan. The order was passed while disposing of a suit filed by Kishan against several defendants, including unidentified persons described as John Does, domain name registrars and major intermediaries such as Meta Platforms, Google LLC and X Corp.
The Court observed that Kishan, who has maintained an acting career spanning more than three decades and has also served in Parliament, possesses enforceable personality rights over attributes such as his name, image, voice and likeness. Justice Singh noted that personality rights are now judicially recognised and that there is a corresponding need to protect them from misuse.
According to the pleadings, Kishan alleged that numerous social media accounts had uploaded vulgar and AI‑generated videos that used his image and voice without his consent. These videos allegedly portrayed him as a political middleman, attributed fabricated political statements to him and mocked his manner of speech. The suit further claimed that several websites were associating his name with sexually explicit and pornographic material, thereby causing severe damage to his reputation among the public, his family and friends. Additionally, Kishan challenged the unauthorised use of his name and likeness in a radio programme titled “What is Love with Kavi Kishan”.
After examining the material on record, the Court held that Kishan had established a prima facie case for the grant of an ex parte ad interim injunction. Justice Singh concluded that the balance of convenience lay in favour of the plaintiff and that irreparable harm would result if interim protection were not granted.
Accordingly, the Court restrained the defendants, including the John Does, from using or exploiting Kishan’s personality rights—including his name, image, likeness and other identifiable attributes—for commercial or personal gain through artificial intelligence, deepfakes or any other technology. The order also prohibited the posting of any vulgar, obscene or pornographic content that employed his persona.
In addition, the Court directed the concerned domain name registrars to remove the infringing URLs listed in the annexure to the order within three days. Should the registrars fail to comply, Kishan has been permitted to notify Meta Platforms, Google LLC and X Corp., which have been directed to initiate the takedown of the relevant URLs within seventy‑two hours of receiving such intimation.
The suit is titled RAVINDRA SHUKLA ALIAS RAVI KISHAN v. ASHOK KUMAR (JOHN DOE) & ORS and bears the citation 2026 LiveLaw (Del) 632. The interim relief granted by the Delhi High Court underscores the judicial recognition of personality rights in the context of emerging technologies and provides a mechanism for swift action against non‑consensual, obscene and AI‑generated content that threatens an individual’s reputation.