New Delhi, 29 September (H.S.): The Delhi High Court on Tuesday ordered the removal of fake social media profiles, deepfake videos and other content misusing the identity of Vikas Divyakirti, founder of Drishti IAS coaching institute and a former bureaucrat. A bench headed by Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani passed the interim order on a petition seeking protection of Divyakirti’s personality rights.

During the hearing, senior advocate Diya Kapoor, appearing for Vikas Divyakirti, submitted that the matter constituted a clear case of copyright infringement. She said the petitioner was an educator and that content relating to his persona had been published or circulated without his consent. She further submitted that AI-generated content resembling Divyakirti had been uploaded on social media platforms, including Instagram and Meta.

The court’s interim direction came in response to the petition seeking protection of Divyakirti’s personality and identity rights against unauthorised use of his name, likeness, image and other attributes of his persona.

The Delhi High Court has previously passed orders protecting the personality rights of several prominent public figures. In earlier proceedings, the court has directed against unauthorised use of personality-related attributes associated with actors Khushi Kapoor, Janhvi Kapoor, Tabu, Arjun Kapoor, Allu Arjun, Mohanlal, Sonakshi Sinha, Kajol, Vivek Oberoi, Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn; cricketers Yuvraj Singh, Abhishek Sharma and Sunil Gavaskar; actor and BJP MP Ravi Kishan; Congress leader Shashi Tharoor; actor and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan; actress and Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan; journalist Sudhir Chaudhary; spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living Foundation; Telugu actor Nagarjuna; actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan; actor Abhishek Bachchan; and filmmaker Karan Johar.

The court has also issued similar protections in cases involving spiritual preacher Aniruddhacharya, Indian cricket team head coach and former MP Gautam Gambhir, and Acharya Balkrishna of Patanjali Ayurved.

The latest order reinforces judicial protection against the unauthorised exploitation of an individual’s identity and persona, particularly through digitally manipulated and AI-generated content.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar