Click the Play button to listen to article

Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpayee moved the Delhi High Court on Monday seeking protection of his personality rights.

The matter was heard briefly by Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav.

Senior Advocate Swathi Sukumar appeared for the actor.

On the aspect of jurisdiction, the Court orally asked Sukumar as to why the actor has approached Delhi High Court when he is mainly based in Mumbai.

Sukumar responded that some defendants are present in Delhi and thus, the jurisdiction is justified.

She told Court that the defendant no. 1, H2PG Designs Private Limited, was using Bajpayee's images to show that he was wearing the suits made by them.

Another defendant, the Court was informed, was using AI tools to generate the actor's voice. Bajpayee is also aggrieved by AI chat bots using his personality elements.

The Court then remarked that the matter can be heard and decreed, especially when the defendants do not come to the Court to contest the case. It added that “there is no point of burdening ourselves” as such matters, if routinely dealt with, will go before the Registrar and will never be taken out for hearing.

Justice Kaurav asked Sukumar to prepare a compilation with interim orders and the final decreed order in personality rights cases. The Court also asked her to inform how other High Courts have dealt with personality rights matters.

It may be noted that the Court has been protecting the personality rights of actress Tabu, cricketers Abhishek Sharma and Yuvraj Singh, political figures like 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: MANOJ RADHAKANT BAJPAYEE v. H2PG DESIGNS PRIVATE LIMITED AND ORS

Tags: