The Delhi High Court on October 13, 2025, heard a petition filed by popular Bollywood singer Kumar Sanu seeking an injunction against defamatory content uploaded by the defendants, which he claimed had tarnished his reputation as a singer and a well-known public figure. Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora directed the removal of all profane content from the respondents’ social media platforms and issued necessary directions to ensure compliance.
The plaintiff Kumar Sanu sought to restrain the defendants from infringing his copyright and misappropriating his personality and public rights. Mr. Kumar alleged that several morphed and defamatory videos of the plaintiff had been uploaded across social media and online platforms, infringing his reputation as a singer. Accordingly he sought relief to stop the defendants from unfairly using his identity or work, to prevent unfair competition and damages thereof. He further requested that the defendants disclose the profits they made from such acts and hand over content created using his name or image. The counsel for the plaintiff informed the Court that Defendant No.3 had already taken down the impugned URLs after receiving the advance paper book. Whereas, the counsel for the other defendants, representing platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, appeared and sought time to review the list of infringing URLs provided by the plaintiff. Mr. Kumar also clarified that he was not seeking to take down entire accounts but only specific URLs where the objectionable videos had been uploaded.
The Court directed the counsels for Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to review the URLs containing morphed content and take appropriate action in line with the IT Rules, 2021, and their internal policies. The respondents were asked to report the action taken failing which, further directions would follow. The plaintiff was instructed to submit a table outlining the defendants and the relief sought against each to the Court Master by October 14, 2025. The Court also clarified that the digitally signed copy of the order available on the Delhi High Court website shall be treated as a certified copy for compliance, and no physical copy shall be required. The matter will be listed for further hearing on October 15, 2025.
Appearances:
For the Petitioner- Advs- Ms. Sana Raees Khan, Ms. Shikha Sachdeva, Ms. Kriti Rathi, and Ms. Annie Jacob
For the Defendants- Mr. Varun Pathak, Mr. Yash Karunakaran and Mr. Debditya Saha, Advs. for D-7 Ms. Aishwarya Kane and Ms. Vani Kaushik, Advs.
