Delhi High Court will issue interim order on the petition of actor Arjun Kapoor, demand for protection of personality rights

Mumbai ​Delhi High Court on Wednesday said that it will issue an interim order on a petition by Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor. In this petition, Arjun Kapoor has sought protection of his personality rights against the alleged misuse of his identity online. The case was heard by Justice Tushar Rao Gedela. Advocate Praveen Anand, appearing for Kapoor, told the court that many people were using the actor’s identity without permission. He said that some people are doing booking without permission, while some people are engaged in merchandising work. The petition also names social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook as well as tech companies like Google LLC and Meta Platform.

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Anand told the court that this content included obscene material, fake news and pornographic pictures related to Kapoor. He further said that many of these pictures have been created and morphed with Artificial Intelligence. There are also pictures in which the actor is shown with animals and even shows him selling golgappas. He argued that such content was neither satire nor joke and was beyond acceptable limits. He also cited similar court orders in cases involving Jubin Nautiyal, Vivek Oberoi and Acharya Balkrishna. Google’s lawyer referred to the approach adopted in Hrithik Roshan’s case, in which complainants can report objectionable content to the platform and then the platform reviews that content. However, the court said that just because a content involves a well-known personality, it cannot be removed completely. The court remarked that people living in public life have to face such situations. However, action can be taken against defamatory or insulting content. The court also remarked that a common man does not come to court for his personality rights and added that well-known personalities are monitored more closely. Citing the principles laid down in DM Entertainment Pvt Ltd vs Baby Gift House, the Court cautioned against taking an overly broad approach to the matter. After hearing the arguments of all the parties, the court said that it will soon issue a detailed interim order.