Bollywood actress Kajol Devgan has been granted interim protection of her personality rights by the Delhi High Court on Friday.
Now, the actress enjoys the right to her name, image, voice, or likeness and is protected against the commercial use of them without her permission.
In the interim order, Justice Jyoti Singh said that her personality rights must be protected from misuse through artificial intelligence and deepfake technology.
Further orders would ensure that no one uses her identity in manipulated digital content.
The high court also directed various defendants to remove pornographic and obscene material published online using the actress’ personality rights.
Kajol isn’t the only one approaching the Delhi High Court to protect their personality rights. Recently, several renowned personalities from different fields, such as the film industry, sports, politics, the legal field, and social media, moved court for the same.
Kajol’s petition comes at a time when the Delhi High Court is expanding jurisprudence around personality rights, particularly in relation to digital misuse.
The Delhi Court has recently granted strong protection to public figures such as Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Nagarjuna, Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, and digital creator Raj Shamani. Even the late Ratan Tata had approached the court seeking injunctions against online misuse of his identity.
These decisions reaffirm that individuals retain exclusive control over the commercial and digital use of their persona.
At the same time, the court has expressed concern about emerging threats such as deepfakes, voice cloning, and synthetic visuals, noting that they infringe not only upon publicity rights but also upon an individual’s dignity and privacy, while reinforcing that satire, artistic expression, commentary, and news reporting must remain unaffected.
Why Personality Rights Matter?
Personality rights — also referred to as publicity rights — grant individuals legal control over the commercial use of their identity, encompassing their name, image, voice, gestures, mannerisms and phrases. These rights act as a safeguard against unauthorized exploitation, protecting both reputation and economic interests.
While India does not yet have a dedicated statute governing personality rights, courts have consistently recognized and enforced them under Article 21 of the Constitution — which guarantees the right to privacy — and through common law principles such as passing off and misappropriation of goodwill.
Legal Frontiers in the Age of AI
The rapid rise of deepfake and generative AI technologies has made the protection of personality rights increasingly urgent. Celebrities are voicing concerns over a range of issues — from fake profiles and unauthorized merchandising to AI-cloned voices and manipulated explicit content. In response, courts have directed online platforms to remove infringing material and block unlawful websites.
