New Delhi, 11 August (H.S.):

The Delhi High Court is set to direct the removal of objectionable online content targeting Bollywood actor Janhvi Kapoor. A bench headed by Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani passed the direction on Tuesday while hearing Kapoor’s petition and said an order in the matter would be uploaded separately.

During the hearing, Kapoor’s counsel submitted that she has worked in Hindi and Telugu films and alleged that pornographic content was being circulated online using her name. The lawyer also pointed out that several fake social media accounts were operating in her name and allegedly generating revenue, arguing that such accounts and content should be removed.

The court said that pornographic material using a person’s identity must be stopped. However, it also examined the issue of approximately 1,900 accounts that were described as fake accounts, including fan pages.

The bench questioned whether all such accounts could be taken down, observing that the digital era has created a legitimate space for fan pages and that not every fan account could automatically be treated as unlawful. The court noted that some fan pages could potentially contain objectionable or pornographic material, while also distinguishing between ordinary fan activity and commercial exploitation of a celebrity’s identity.

The court indicated that where a person’s identity is being commercially exploited or used inappropriately, appropriate action may be warranted, but a blanket order to remove all fan pages would not necessarily be justified.

The Delhi High Court has previously passed orders protecting the personality and publicity rights of several prominent public figures. These include actors Tabu, Arjun Kapoor, Allu Arjun, Mohanlal, Sonakshi Sinha, Kajol, Vivek Oberoi, Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn; cricketers Yuvraj Singh, Abhishek Sharma and Sunil Gavaskar; BJP MP and actor Ravi Kishan; Congress leader Shashi Tharoor; actor and politician Jaya Bachchan; spiritual leaders Aniruddhacharya, Baba Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar; Telugu actor Nagarjuna; former cricketer and former MP Gautam Gambhir; Patanjali Ayurved co-founder Acharya Balkrishna; Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan; journalist Sudhir Chaudhary; actor Aishwarya Rai; actor Abhishek Bachchan; and filmmaker Karan Johar.

In such cases, the court has directed that aspects of the personalities, names, images, voices or other attributes of these individuals should not be used without authorisation, particularly where such use amounts to unauthorised commercial exploitation.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar