Kajol secures big legal win as Delhi HC grants interim protection her personality rights, shields her from AI misuse and deepfakes

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday issued an interim order protecting the personality rights of actor Kajol Devgan, preventing unauthorised use of her identity for commercial gain. Justice Jyoti Singh directed several defendants not to use the actor’s name, image, voice or likeness to sell merchandise or for any other commercial purpose without her consent. The court also said her identity must be protected from misuse through artificial intelligence tools, including deepfakes and other digitally altered content. The High Court further ordered the removal of pornographic and obscene material circulated online in her name. Advocate Pravin Anand represented Kajol Devgan in the case. Her petition comes at a time when more public figures are approaching the Delhi High Court to seek protection of their personality and publicity rights, particularly in the digital space. The court has recently granted similar safeguards to prominent personalities, including Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Nagarjuna, Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan and digital creator Raj Shamani.Through these decisions, the court has reaffirmed that individuals have exclusive control over the commercial and digital use of their persona. It has also expressed concern over the growing threat of deepfakes, voice cloning and synthetic visuals, observing that such misuse can harm not only publicity rights but also a person’s dignity and privacy.At the same time, the court clarified that legitimate satire, artistic expression, commentary and news reporting should not be restricted by these protections.