The Delhi High Court has asked for a detailed legal examination of personality rights as Bollywood actor Kriti Sanon seeks protection against the unauthorised use of her identity, states Hindustan Times.
During a hearing on 16 October, Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav directed Sanon’s lawyer, Pravin Anand, to submit relevant court judgments, research papers and legal material explaining the scope of personality rights. The court also raised questions about whether its Intellectual Property Division has the jurisdiction to hear such disputes.
Sanon’s counsel told the court that these rights could cover an individual’s name, face, voice, photographs, images and videos. He also highlighted concerns over the commercial exploitation of a person’s identity without consent or authorisation.
Seeking further legal clarification, the judge asked Anand to provide research papers, a compilation of relevant judgments and his interpretation of the law.
The court indicated that it would consider a comprehensive order after reviewing the material. The next hearing is scheduled for 29 October.
The case comes amid a growing number of personality rights petitions filed by celebrities and other public figures.
The rise of artificial intelligence has added complexity to such disputes, with concerns including digitally generated images, deepfakes, voice cloning and unauthorised endorsements.
Personality rights broadly concern the protection of identifiable aspects of an individual’s identity from certain forms of unauthorised use.
Courts must also consider how such protection interacts with freedom of expression, news reporting and artistic creativity. No final ruling on the broader legal questions has been announced in Sanon’s case.
