Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2026 Supreme(Online)(Del) 5258

Jyoti Singh, J
Gautam Gambhir – Appellant
Versus
Ashok Kumar/John Doe & Ors. – Respondent
CS(COMM) 287/2026

Advocates:
For the Appellants/Petitioners: Mr. Jai Anant Dehadrai, Ms. Srutee Priyadarshini
For the Respondents: Mr. Manas Raghuvanshi (for D-11), Mr. Varun Pathak, Ms. Sana Banyal, Ms. Nitya Nath (for D-13), Ms. Mamta Rani, Mr. Rohan Ahuja, Ms. Shrruttima Ehersa, Ms. Aiswarya Debadarshini (for D-15), Mr. Gaurav Barathi, Mr. Debasish Mishra, Mr. Chirantan Priyadarshan (for D-16 and 17)

Personality and publicity rights protect a person's name, image, voice, and likeness from unauthorized commercial or personal use, including AI-generated deepfakes and morphed content.

Headnote:(A) Commercial Courts Act, 2015 - Sections 12-A, Order XI Rules 1, 3, 4, 5, Order VII Rule 14 - Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 - Sections 80, 149, 151, Order XXXIX Rules 1, 2 - Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 - Section 63(4)(c) - Delhi High Court (Original Side) Rules, 2018 - Personality and publicity rights - Unauthorized use of name, image, likeness, voice, and persona - Injunction against infringing use - Right to protect personality attributes - No third party can use such attributes without consent - Unauthorized commercial use constitutes infringement and dilution. (Paras 52-53)

(B) Personality Rights - Scope and ambit - A person's name, image, voice, likeness and other distinctive attributes are protected from unauthorized use for commercial or personal gain - Such rights extend to protection against AI-generated content, deepfakes, face swapping, and morphing - Infringing content causes irreparable harm to reputation and goodwill. (Paras 53-54)

Facts of the case:
The Plaintiff, a former Indian international cricketer, World Cup champion, and currently Head Coach of Indian Men’s National Cricket Team, filed a suit seeking injunction against various defendants for unauthorized use of his personality and publicity rights. The defendants include unknown persons operating social media accounts (Instagram, X, YouTube, Facebook) creating and disseminating AI-generated videos, deepfakes, morphed content, and false quotes, as well as e-commerce platforms (Amazon, Flipkart) selling merchandise using Plaintiff's images without authorization, and intermediary platforms (Meta, X Corp., Google) hosting infringing content.

Findings of Court:
The Court found that the Plaintiff has established a prima facie case for protection of his personality and publicity rights, and the balance of convenience lies in favor of granting an ex-parte ad interim injunction. The infringing content is causing irreparable harm to his reputation and goodwill.

Issues: Whether the Plaintiff is entitled to an ex-parte ad interim injunction restraining defendants from unauthorized use of his personality and publicity rights.

Ratio Decidendi: The Court held that personality rights are well-recognized, and a person has a right to protect his name, likeness, and all attributes of his persona. Unauthorized use of such attributes for commercial or personal gain constitutes infringement. The court relied on precedents including D.M. Entertainment v. Baby Gift House, Anil Kapoor v. Simply Life India, and Jaikishan Kakubhai Saraf v. Peppy Store to hold that such unauthorized use amounts to dilution of identity and unearned commercial gain.

Result: Interim injunction granted restraining defendants from using Plaintiff’s name, image, voice, likeness, or persona attributes, and directing take down of infringing URLs by intermediaries.

Table of Content
1. application for disclosure of details by defendants (Para 1 , 2 , 3 , 4)
2. application to place additional documents on record (Para 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9)
3. extension of time for filing court fees (Para 10 , 11 , 12)
4. exemption from pre-institution mediation in urgent cases (Para 13 , 14 , 15)
5. extension of time to file certificate under bs act (Para 16 , 17 , 18)
6. exemption from advance notice under section 80 cpc (Para 19 , 20 , 21)
7. condonation of delay in re-filing suit (Para 22 , 23 , 24 , 25)
8. registration of suit and issuance of summons (Para 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35)
9. application for ex-parte ad interim injunction (Para 36 , 37 , 38 , 39)
10. submissions on infringing links (Para 40 , 41)
11. plaintiff's background and allegations against defendants (Para 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50)
12. plaintiff's submissions on infringement (Para 51)
13. recognition of personality rights and precedents (Para 52 , 53)
14. directions for interim injunction and take down (Para 54)
15. disposition of inactive urls and compliance (Para 55 , 56)

O R D E R

I.A. 7418/2026 (u/O XI Rules 1, 3 and 5 Commercial Courts Act, 2015 r/w Section 151 CPC)

1. This application is filed on behalf of the Plaintiff seeking disclose of the details as mentioned in paragraph 3 of the application on an affidavit by the Defendants.

2. Issue notice.

3. Counsels, as above, accept notice on behalf of respective Defendants.

4. Notice be issued to remaining Defendants, through all permissible modes, returnable before the learned Joint Registrar on 20.04.2026.

I.A. 7419/2026 (u/O XI Rule 1 (4) r/w Order VII Rule 14 of Commercial Courts Act, 2015 r/w Section 151 CPC)

5. This application is filed on behalf of the Plaintiff seeking to place on record additional documents.

6. Issue notice.

7. Counsels, as above, accept notice on behalf of the respective Defendants.

8. Plaintiff, if he wishes to file additional documents at a later stage, shall do so strictly in accordance with provisions of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.

9. Application is allowed and disposed of.

I.A. 7420/2026 (u/S 149 r/w Section 151 CPC)

10. This application is filed on behalf of the Plaintiff seeking extension of time by two weeks for filing the court fees.

11. For the reasons stated in the application, the same is allowed permitting Plaintiff to deposit the court fees within a week from today.

12. Application is disposed of.

I.A. 7421/2026 (for pre-institution mediation)

13. This application is filed on behalf of the Plaintiff under Section 12-A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 read with Section 151 CPC seeking exemption from Pre-Institution Mediation.

14. Having regard to the facts of the present case wherein urgent relief is prayed for and in light of the judgment of Supreme Court in Yamini Manohar v. T.K.D. Keerthi , (2024) 5 SCC 815, as also Division Bench of this Court in Chandra Kishore Chaurasia v. RA Perfumery Works Private Ltd. , 2022 SCC OnLine Del 3529, exemption is granted to the Plaintiff from

Pre-Institution Mediation.

15. Application is allowed and disposed of.

I.A. 7422/2026 (u/S 151 CPC)

16. This application is filed on behalf of the Plaintiff seeking extension of time to file certificate under Section 63(4)(c) of Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 as also an affidavit under Order XI Rule 6(3) CPC.

17. For the reasons stated in the application, the same is allowed granting two weeks to the Plaintiff to file certificate under Section 63(4)(c) of Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 as also an affidavit under Order XI Rule 6(3) CPC.

18. Application stands disposed of.

I.A. 7423/2026 (under section 80)

19. This application is filed on behalf of the Plaintiff under Section 80 CPC seeking exemption from effecting two months’ advance notice on Defendants No. 16 and 17.

20. For the reasons stated in the application, the same is allowed exempting the Plaintiff from effecting two months’ advance notice on Defendants No. 16 and 17.

21. Application stands disposed of

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2026 Supreme(Online)(Del) 5258

Jyoti Singh, JGautam Gambhir – AppellantVersusAshok Kumar/John Doe & Ors. – RespondentCS(COMM) 287/2026

Personality and publicity rights protect a person's name, image, voice, and likeness from unauthorized commercial or personal use, including AI-generated deepfakes and morphed content.

Cases Referred (1)

Jyoti Singh, J
Gautam Gambhir – Appellant
Versus
Ashok Kumar/John Doe & Ors. – Respondent
CS(COMM) 287/2026