Delhi High Court Protects Former Cricketer Sunil Gavaskar's Personality Rights Against Unauthorised Online Use
Court ordered takedown of obscene and infringing online content within 72 hours and restrains use of artificial intelligence and deepfake technology exploiting the former cricketer’s personality rights
Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora has protected the personality rights of former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar by restraining unauthorised online use of his name image and likeness.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday, 23 December 2025 protected the personality rights of former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, restraining unauthorised use of his name, likeness and images by websites and online platforms without his consent.
Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora passed the order on Gavaskar’s plea and prohibited several defendants from exploiting his personality traits through the use of artificial intelligence and deepfake technology.
Court directed the removal of obscene and offensive content circulating online and ordered that the identified URLs and materials be taken down within 72 hours. It was clarified that in the event of non compliance, social media intermediaries would be required to take appropriate action.
During the hearing, the court was told that some of the infringing material had already been removed, while other content continued to remain accessible on the internet.
The order was passed while hearing Gavaskar’s plea seeking protection of his personality and publicity rights. The matter has been listed for further hearing on 22 May 2026.
Earlier, the Court had directed Gavaskar to furnish specific URLs of the infringing content within 48 hours. The bench had also directed intermediaries to treat the plaint as a formal complaint and decide on it within one week. The intermediaries were further directed to communicate their decision, along with reasons in case of any reservation on takedown requests, to the plaintiff within a week of receiving the URLs.
The present plea forms part of a growing number of petitions filed by public personalities seeking restraint on unauthorised online monetisation and misuse of their name, image, voice and likeness.
A day earlier, the Delhi High Court had protected the personality rights of actor R Madhavan.
In recent months, actors Hrithik Roshan, Nagarjuna, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Karan Johar, spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and journalist Sudhir Chaudhary have also approached the Delhi High Court alleging misuse of their personality rights.
Case Title: Sunil Gavaskar v Cricket Tak & ors
Bench: Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora
Hearing Date: 23 December 2025