The Delhi High Court on September 10, 2025 entertained a personality rights suit filed by Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan and granted him an injunction. The Court observed that the defendants were selling and advertising products using his image, thereby infringing upon his brand value. It held that such protection was necessary to safeguard Mr. Bachchan’s personality rights, considering his stature as a prominent figure in Indian cinema.
The counsel for Mr. Bachchan submitted that defendants 1–9 and 18 were selling merchandise with the actor’s image, while the rest of the defendants (10, 12, 13, 14) were making AI-generated content, some of which were also sexually explicit. He stated that all the above defendants were e-commerce platforms and public websites accessible to the masses, and the commission of such acts without the prior knowledge of plaintiff Mr. Bachchan strained his image and persona as an actor. He thus argued for the Court to grant a permanent injunction restraining the infringement of trademarks, copyright, performers’ rights, misappropriation of personality/publicity rights, unfair competition, and passing off.
The Court referred to previous similar cases, including Anil Kapoor v. Simply Life India, 2023 SCC OnLine Del 6914; Amitabh Bachchan v. Rajat Nagi, (2022) 6 HCC (Del) 641; Jaikishan Kakubhai Saraf v. Peppy Store, (2024) 2 HCC (Del) 253; and the case heard on the previous day with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as the plaintiff in Aishwarya Rai Bachchan v. Aishwaryaworld.com & Ors. The Court held that there was a sufficient prima facie case to grant an ex-parte interim injunction in favour of Mr. Bachchan. Consequently, the defendants were restrained from violating Mr. Bachchan’s personality rights, passing off goods as endorsed by him, using the initials “AB” in AI-generated images or videos, and producing merchandise featuring the actor’s name or likeness. The Court further directed the defendants to take down all infringing content within 72 hours of receiving the order and to file a reply to the application within four weeks from the date of service of the notice, with any rejoinder to be filed before the next date of hearing. The matter is listed for further hearing on January 15, 2026.
Appearances:
For the Plaintiff – Mr. Pravin Anand, Mr. Ameet Naik, Ms. Madhu Gadodia, Mr. Dhruv Anand, Ms. Udita Patro, Ms. Nimrat Singh, Ms. Deevesha Tudekar, Mr. Dhananjay Khanna & Ms. Aayushi Udani, Advocates.
For the Defendants- Ms. Shruttima Ehersa, Mr. Rohan Ahuja, Ms. Devangini Rai, Ms. Aiswarya Debadarsini, Ms. Diya Viswanath & Ms. Jahanvi Agarwal, Advocates for D-15.
