In a landmark decision, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, robustly protected the ‘personality and publicity rights’ of acclaimed Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan. The court issued directives for the immediate removal of several inappropriate posts targeting him across various social media platforms.
Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora clarified that while these were interim directives, the court would not issue ex-parte orders for the complete removal of certain fan pages without first hearing their arguments. A more comprehensive interim injunction order is anticipated following further proceedings.
This significant ruling stems from a plea filed by Mr. Roshan, who sought judicial intervention to safeguard his image and prevent online platforms from unlawfully using his name, likeness, and even AI-generated objectionable content.
The judgment follows a series of similar petitions by other Bollywood figures and public personalities. Recently, actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan, filmmaker Karan Johar, Telugu star Akkineni Nagarjuna, spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and journalist Sudhir Chaudhary were all granted interim relief by the High Court in their respective pleas for the protection of their personality and publicity rights. A similar case involving singer Kumar Sanu is also currently awaiting resolution in the High Court.
The ‘right to publicity,’ often referred to as personality rights, empowers individuals to protect, control, and profit from the commercial use of their unique image, name, or likeness. This ruling underscores the judiciary’s commitment to adapting legal frameworks to address the challenges of digital content and celebrity persona exploitation.