The Delhi High Court has granted an ex parte interim injunction in favour of renowned Ayurvedic practitioner and wellness educator Acharya Manish (Manish Grover), restraining unidentified persons from using artificial intelligence to exploit his personality rights by creating and circulating fake endorsement videos on social media.
Justice Saurabh Banerjee passed the order while hearing a commercial suit filed by Acharya Manish and Jeena Sikho Lifecare Limited against John Doe entities and Meta Platforms Inc., observing that the plaintiff had established a prima facie case warranting urgent protection.
According to the plaintiffs, several unknown entities had been using AI-generated voice cloning and manipulated video content to falsely depict Acharya Manish endorsing third-party health products, despite having no association with such products. The suit alleged that fraudsters extracted footage from his genuine videos, superimposed cloned voices, and created misleading advertisements that capitalised on his reputation and public trust.
The Court noted that Acharya Manish has built a distinct public persona through his work in Ayurveda, naturopathy, yoga and integrated healthcare, supported by his extensive media presence, television appearances, philanthropic work and digital following. It observed that his name, image, likeness and voice have become uniquely associated with him and constitute valuable facets of his personality and publicity rights deserving legal protection.
Significantly, the Court held that the alleged infringers had gone beyond unauthorised use of his identity by employing artificial intelligence to create the false impression that he was promoting products and services with which he had no connection. Such conduct, the Court observed, appeared to be a deliberate attempt to exploit the goodwill, credibility and public trust enjoyed by the plaintiff for commercial gain.
Holding that continued circulation of the content would cause irreparable injury, the Court restrained the defendants and all persons acting through them from using or exploiting Acharya Manish’s name, image, voice, photographs, videos, advertisements or any other identifiable attributes of his personality. It also restrained infringement of his copyright, moral rights and performance rights, as well as passing off goods or services as being endorsed by him.
The Court further directed Meta Platforms Inc. to permanently disable, block or suspend access to all the infringing Facebook and Instagram links identified by the plaintiffs. It also permitted the plaintiffs to approach Meta for the removal of any additional fake or similar infringing content discovered during the pendency of the proceedings without having to institute fresh proceedings each time.
The suit has been listed before the Joint Registrar on August 25, 2026, while the matter will next be heard by the Roster Bench on October 6, 2026.
