Delhi HC Directs Removal Of Infringing Content Against Physics Wallah Founder Alakh Pandey

Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani also directed Google, X (formerly Twitter), Telegram, and LinkedIn to furnish the Basic Subscriber Information (BSI) of the infringing entities to enable the plaintiff to serve them with legal notices.

"Websites are not to be taken down. Only the URLs have to be taken down" the Court clarified in its order. However, a detailed order with reasons will be passed later, Justice Bhambhani said.

The ad-interim ex-parte order was passed in a suit filed by Pandey, represented by Senior Advocate J. Sai Deepak, seeking protection of his personality rights. The Court also issued summons in the suit.

Pursuant to the Court’s

direction, Pandey placed on record a defendant-wise tabulated note identifying specific instances of alleged violations, categorising them into commercial monetisation, ex-facie sexually explicit content, and content impersonating him.

The Court also permitted the plaintiff to include redirect, alphanumeric, and mirror websites in the injunction list to prevent the circumvention of the takedown orders.

Senior Advocate J. Sai Deepak, appearing for Pandey, argued that the educator had acquired a distinct public persona through his work, widespread recognition, and popularity, making his personality commercially valuable.

He submitted that Pandey's catchphrase ('hello bachho'), face, tone, and 'larger than life image' were being exploited without authorisation to sell commercial stickers, GIFs, and coupon codes.

The senior counsel highlighted that AI-generated images portraying Pandey in sexually explicit or defamatory ways were circulating online, which had the real prospect of lowering his standing as an educator in the eyes of his students.

Addressing the Court's concerns regarding overbroad relief, Sr. Adv. Sai Deepak clarified that the suit was not filed "under hubris" to suppress criticism, parody, or humorous memes.

He submitted that the proceedings were strictly confined to instances where Pandey's likeness was used to commercially exploit his persona or portray him through degrading material.

"We are only saying where my face is used, my likeness is used. This is about the individual" he submitted, clarifying that no relief was sought regarding the trademarks or intellectual property belonging to the company Physics Wallah.

Justice Bhambhani expressed initial reservations over conflating multiple legal issues, trademark, copyright, defamation, and personality rights, under one umbrella.

The Court observed that although some of the content appeared "vulgar," a sweeping injunction could not be granted because embedded within mny links was perfectly legitimate expression.

Yesterday, Justice Bhambhani indicated that at the ad-interim stage, the Court was inclined to protect the plaintiff only against content that commercially monetised his personality or was ex-facie sexually explicit, provided it fell short of protected free speech.

Counsel representing the intermediary platforms stated their role was neutral and agreed to comply with the disclosure of BSI to enable the independent service of defendants.

The matter will be taken up next before the Joint Registrar on November 6 for the completion of pleadings.