In a swift, high-stakes legal intervention to curb the rampant misuse of his identity, Bollywood star Salman Khan has moved the Delhi High Court seeking urgent protection of his personality rights. The plea, which comes against the backdrop of rising instances of unauthorised digital replication and commercial exploitation of celebrity images, will be taken up tomorrow by Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, whose courtroom has increasingly become the focal point for disputes involving misuse of public figures’ likeness, voice, and digital persona.
Salman Khan has alleged that his image, voice, and other distinctive personality attributes are being commercially utilised by various known and unknown entities without his consent, prompting him to proceed against multiple defendants, including John Does, a standard legal mechanism deployed when infringing parties cannot be immediately identified. The actor asserts that unauthorised digital replication and commercial exploitation of his persona not only violate his rights of publicity but also risk misleading consumers and diluting the economic value attached to his identity.
The urgency in Khan’s petition comes just days after actor NTR Junior filed a similar suit before the same court. In that matter, Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora directed social media platforms and e-commerce intermediaries to treat the pleading as a formal complaint under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, an approach likely to influence Khan’s case as well.
High Court judges have recently been proactive in protecting personality rights amid the rise of AI-generated content and impersonation. Coordinate benches have granted relief to prominent figures such as Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, actors Nagarjuna, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, and filmmaker Karan Johar. Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora himself has passed notable John Doe orders safeguarding the rights of journalist Sudhir Chaudhary and podcaster Raj Shamani, recognising the growing threat posed by unauthorised digital manipulation and commercial misuse.
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