Abhishek Sharma Seeks Delhi High Court Protection for His Personality Rights

Abhishek Sharma: Indian cricketer Abhishek Sharma has approached the Delhi High Court seeking legal protection of his personality rights, alleging unauthorized use of his name, image, likeness, and identity.

The matter came up for hearing before Justice Jyoti Singh, who directed Sharma’s legal team to file an additional affidavit containing relevant screenshots that accurately correspond with the URLs and tables mentioned in the plaint.

⚖️ What Happened During the Hearing?

During the hearing, counsel representing Meta presented the Court with eight URLs that were allegedly connected to the disputed content.

After examining the material placed before it, the Court observed that it could not pass any interim order because the screenshots submitted did not match the corresponding entries listed in the annexure attached to the suit.

Justice Jyoti Singh clarified that the Court was not refusing relief to Abhishek Sharma. Instead, the Court emphasized that the supporting documents must be properly filed before any interim protection could be granted.

Accordingly, Sharma’s legal team has been directed to submit an additional affidavit with correctly matched screenshots and supporting evidence.

📅 The matter will now be heard on Thursday.

🛡️ Why Is Abhishek Sharma Seeking Personality Rights Protection?

Personality rights protect an individual’s:

📸 Name
🖼️ Image
🎥 Likeness
🎙️ Voice
🧑 Identity
💼 Commercial reputation

These rights prevent unauthorized commercial exploitation, impersonation, misleading advertisements, fake endorsements, AI-generated content, and misuse across digital platforms without consent.

With the rapid rise of AI-generated content, deepfakes, and social media impersonation, Indian celebrities and public figures are increasingly approaching courts to safeguard their identities.

📌 Delhi High Court Has Protected Several Public Figures

The Delhi High Court has, in recent years, granted protection to the personality rights of several prominent personalities.

Some notable names include:

🏏 Former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar
🎬 Salman Khan
🎬 Allu Arjun
🎬 Mohanlal
🎬 Kajol Devgan
🎬 R. Madhavan
🎬 Jr NTR
💼 Aman Gupta
🎤 Jubin Nautiyal
🕉️ Aniruddhacharya
🧘 Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
🎬 Nagarjuna
🎬 Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
🎬 Abhishek Bachchan
🎬 Karan Johar
📰 Sudhir Chaudhary
🎙️ Raj Shamani
🏛️ Congress MP Shashi Tharoor
🏛️ Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan

Several of these cases involved allegations relating to fake advertisements, unauthorized endorsements, AI-generated videos, deepfakes, identity theft, and misleading online content.

🤖 Growing Concern Over AI and Deepfake Content

The increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) has significantly expanded the misuse of celebrity identities.

Courts across India are witnessing a growing number of petitions involving:

🚫 Fake endorsements
🤖 AI-generated videos
🎭 Deepfake images
📱 Social media impersonation
💰 Unauthorized commercial exploitation

The Delhi High Court has repeatedly recognized that public figures have a right to protect their identity and reputation from unlawful misuse in the digital space.

📅 What Happens Next?

Abhishek Sharma’s legal team will now file the additional affidavit with properly matched screenshots and supporting documents.

Once the Court is satisfied with the evidence, it is expected to consider whether interim protection should be granted against the alleged unauthorized use of the cricketer’s personality and identity.

The case is scheduled to be heard again on Thursday.