Delhi High Court Restrains Use Of Sonakshi Sinha’s Persona Via AI, Deepfakes, Chatbots; Bars Obscene Content & Unauthorised Commercial Use
Court noted that such misuse, particularly in obscene or misleading contexts, could severely damage her public image.
Justice Jyoti Singh, Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has granted interim protection to actor Sonakshi Sinha, restraining multiple artificial intelligence platforms and online sellers from unauthorised use of her name, image, voice, and likeness. The Court passed an ex parte ad interim injunction noting a prima facie case of unlawful exploitation of the actor’s persona for commercial gain.
The Court observed that the defendants were prima facie engaging in illegal use of Sinha’s persona through modern technologies such as AI, deepfakes, and chatbots, thereby violating her personality rights. It further noted that such misuse, particularly in obscene or misleading contexts, could severely damage her goodwill and public image.
Justice Jyoti Singh observed, “…Plaintiff is a recipient of prestigious awards such as Filmfare Award and has millions of followers on social media platforms. Plaintiff has brought forth that the Infringing Chatbot platforms are hosting multiple chatbots presenting the Plaintiff and imitating her Likeness, where even users are interacting with the Infringing Chatbots, as if they were interacting with Plaintiff herself and are also generating lewd and obscene or otherwise objectionable content. Other infringing Defendants are using Plaintiff’s likeness and other attributes of her personality without her permission and authorisation, to promote their products giving an impression to the members of the public that their brands are endorsed by the Plaintiff. Some images are wholly inappropriate and portray the Plaintiff wearing obscene clothing, thereby tarnishing her image and reputation”.
“Having perused the documents and screenshots, I am of the prima facie view that Defendants No.1 to 17 are unlawfully and illegally exploiting and using various elements of Plaintiff’s persona such as her likeness, voice, image etc. for unlawful and unjustified commercial gains, without her consent and/or authorization. Some of these infringers are also hosting images of the Plaintiff with inappropriate clothing and obscene content using AI tools, which is causing irreparable damage to her reputation. As for images showing the Plaintiff as a brand endorser of the merchandise, the additional concern is that if the goods turn out to be of inferior quality, it would be a further debasement of Plaintiff’s goodwill and reputation…”, the Bench further observed.
Advocate Anushka Sharda appeared for the plaintiff and Advocate Mrinal Ojha appeared for the defendant.
The matter was a commercial suit filed by Sinha against several defendants, including AI chatbot platforms such as Character Technologies Inc. and other online intermediaries. The plaintiff alleged that these platforms were hosting chatbots impersonating her, allowing users to interact as if they were communicating with the actor herself, and in several instances generating obscene and objectionable content.
Recognising the urgency and potential irreparable injury, the Court dispensed with pre-institution mediation under the Commercial Courts Act and proceeded to grant interim relief. It held that celebrities have a protectable right over their personality attributes, including name, likeness, voice, and image, and no third party can exploit these without consent.
Referring to Jaikishan Kakubhai Saraf v. Peppy Store and Others, 2024 SCC OnLine Del 3664 and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan v. Aishwaryaworld.com and Others, 2025 SCC OnLine Del 5943, the Bench further noted, “…this Court held that when attributes of famous personalities are used unauthorisedly, it leads not only to commercial detriment but also impacts his/her rights to privacy/personality and live with dignity. Surely, Plaintiff is entitled to complain that any content which is set in obscene backdrop or shows her in inappropriate clothing and/or which falsely portrays her as endorsing brands, where there is no authorization and/or which uses attributes and elements of her persona such as her images, voices etc., is liable to be forthwith taken down from the public space. The infringing content, hosted purely for commercial or personal gains, is continuing to cause harm and damage to Plaintiff’s formidable goodwill and reputation”.
Accordingly, the Court restrained all defendants and unidentified parties (John Does) from using or exploiting any attributes of Sinha’s personality for commercial or personal gain without authorisation. It also directed the concerned platforms and websites to take down the infringing content and URLs within 36 hours.
The matter is now listed for further proceedings, while the interim injunction continues to operate as a safeguard against ongoing misuse of the actor’s identity.
Cause Title: Sonakshi Sinha v. Character Technologies Inc & Ors. CS(COMM) 275/2026
Appearances:
Plaintiff: Anushka Sharda and Abhi Udai Singh Gautam, Advocates.
Defendants: Mrinal Ojha, Debarshi Dutta, Arjun Mookerjee and Shivam Tiwari, Advocates.