Delhi High Court Asks Gautam Gambhir To File Correct Memo Of Parties In Suit Seeking Protection Of Personality Rights

The Delhi High Court on Friday (March 20) asked Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir to correct discrepancies in the memo describing the defendant parties in his suit seeking protection of his personality rights.

Appearing for Gambhir, advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai submitted before Justice Jyoti Singh that there were "very troubling" deepfake videos of the plaintiff. 

"Lets say there is bad performance in a match, they will say I resigned. There are videos that I assaulted a player. Very upsetting. I am requesting some protection…. I understand the framework. Please see the table in which I have put infringing content. Some things have material consequences. Imagine words being put in mouth of Indian cricket coach team, things like I am resigning. 23 years of national service. He serves as head coach of the team," Dehadrai said. 

The court however noted that there was discrepancy in the memo of parties and asked the counsel for the plaintiff to correct the same. 

"During the course of hearing, it is noticed by the Court that there is discrepancy in the body of the plaint and memo in describing the defendants. The plaintiff is directed to correct the memo of parties. Let the amended memo of parties be filed in consonance with the body of the plaint. List on Monday," the court said in its order. 

Gambhir has sought Rs. 2.5 crore as damages from the defendants, including john doe (unknown entities) for allegedly misusing his name, image, and likeness for commercial gain and misinformation campaigns.

Gambhir is aggrieved by proliferation of AI-generated deepfakes and manipulated videos that falsely attribute statements and actions to him. He thus sought removal of such infringing and misleading content from social media platforms, including Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube and Facebook.

Recently, the judge had passed a john doe order protecting the personality rights of Yoga guru and Patanjali Ayurved founder Ramdev.

For context, coordinate benches have passed orders protecting personality rights of singer Jubin Nautiyal, Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Pawan Kalyan, 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 recently 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.

The matter is listed on March 23. 

Title: GAUTAM GAMBHIR v. ASHOK KUMAR/JOHN DOE & ORS