Delhi High Court Issues Summons In Cricketer Abhishek Sharma's Personality Rights Suit, Orders Take Down Of Infringing Content

The Delhi High Court on Thursday said it will pass an interim order directing take down of various offending posts and links misusing the personality traits and likeness of cricketer Abhishek Sharma.

Justice Jyoti Singh said that she will pass an interim order in the suit filed by Sharma seeking protection of his personality rights.

The counsel appearing for the cricketer said that an additional affidavit with the URLs which are yet to be removed has been filed.

He said that while some posts have already been removed, two social media posts on Facebook and Instagram and another containing profanity were still available online. He said that various posts on Amazon and Flipkart using Sharma's likeness for commercial purposes without authorisation are also to be removed.

The counsel appearing for Meta said that the two social media posts on Facebook and Instagram platforms will be removed.

Similarly, the counsel appearing for Amazon said that subject to judicial order, it will take down the infringing URLs.

The Court then said that it will direct removal and take down of the infringing links. It also issued summons in the suit. 

It may be noted that the Court has been protecting the personality rights of political figures like BJP MP Ravi Kishan, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Pawan Kalyan.

It has also protected rights of entrepreneur Aman Gupta, Telugu actor Allu Arjun, Malayalam actor Mohanlal, spiritual preacher Aniruddhacharya, singer Jubin Nautiyal, former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, and actors Kajol Devgan, R Madhavan and NTR Junior. Similar suit has been filed by actor Salman Khan.

The coordinate benches have also passed orders protecting the personality rights of “The Art of Living” foundation founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Telugu actor Nagarjuna, Bollywood actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and film producer Karan Johar.

Notably, the Court also protected the personality rights of journalist Sudhir Chaudhary, who had sought relief regarding the circulation of allegedly misleading and AI-generated videos against him on social media.

The Court also passed a john doe order protecting the personality rights of podcaster Raj Shamani, observing that he is a known face in India, especially in the field of content creation.

Title: Abhishek Sharma v. John Doe & Ors