Abhishek Bachchan Moves Delhi HC Seeking Protection of Personality Rights After Wife Aishwarya Rai

Just a day after his wife, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, moved the court, Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan on Wednesday, September 10, approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his publicity and personality rights. He also sought directions to restrain websites and online platforms from misusing his image, likeness, persona, and from circulating fake or sexually explicit videos.

Appearing before a single-judge bench led by Justice Tejas Karia, Advocate Pravin Anand for Bachchan argued that the defendants were producing AI-generated videos of the actor, creating fake photographs bearing his signature, and disseminating sexually explicit material.

During the pre-lunch session, the court indicated that it would consider passing an order directing Google to take down links hosting content that violated Bachchan’s personality rights. The judge asked Bachchan’s counsel to provide a list of offending links to enable the court to issue precise directions to the platform.

When the matter resumed post-lunch, Bachchan’s counsel submitted that the exercise of dividing the links defendant-wise had been completed and handed over a note to the court. Counsel for Google informed the bench that a majority of the infringing links had been uploaded by Defendants 10 to 15. After considering the submissions, the court observed that it would pass an order and listed the matter for further hearing on January 14.

During the hearing, Bachchan’s counsel emphasised that the actor, being a well-known celebrity, had approached the court to safeguard his personality rights, copyright, and to prevent misappropriation through passing off. Anand further contended that artificial intelligence was being misused to create sexually objectionable content involving the actor.

The actor told the court that his images had been used without consent and circulated across multiple platforms, including through the sale of merchandise and the creation of AI-generated videos on social media. The bench was also presented with instances of such impugned content.

Bachchan, therefore, urged the court to restrain platforms from exploiting his personality attributes without consent. He submitted that the misappropriation of his persona, name, likeness, image, voice, signature, and artistic performances for commercial advantage or personal gain amounted to a violation of his rights.

In making his case, the actor drew parallels with the 2023 Anil Kapoor case, where the Delhi High Court had granted an ex parte interim injunction restraining the unauthorized use of Kapoor’s name, voice, image, likeness, and even his trademark expression “Jhakaas,” including in the context of AI-driven manipulation.

Just yesterday, actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan had also filed a plea before the Delhi High Court voicing similar concerns and seeking protection of her personality rights before the same bench. Justice Karia had then observed that orders would be passed against each of the defendants responsible for violating her rights.

The Bachchans’ move to approach the court highlights a larger concern shared by many public figures: the growing misuse of their identity in the digital space, especially with the rise of AI-driven technologies.

Bachchan was also represented by Advocates Ameet Naik, Madhu Gadodia, and Dhruv Anand

Case Title: Abhishek Bachchan v. The Bollywood Tee Shop and ors

Hearing Date: 10 September 2025

Bench: Justice Tejas Karia