Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Gets High Court Relief Over Personality Rights

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been granted interim relief by the Delhi High Court in a case concerning the unauthorised use of her name, image, photographs and persona across digital platforms and commercial products, including misuse through artificial intelligence (AI).

Justice Tejas Karia, who heard the matter, directed defendant platforms, including e-commerce websites and Google LLC, to take down and block the URLs identified in the petition. 

The court ordered that Google, within 72 hours of receiving the notice, "shall take down, remove, disable and block the URLs identified in the petition." 

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Department of Telecommunications were also directed to issue necessary directions to block and disable all the URLs.

The case has been listed for further proceedings on January 15, 2026.

The court observed that "when the identity of a famous personality is used without their consent or authorisation, it may cause commercial detriment and impact their right to live with dignity."

It granted an interim injunction, holding that Aishwarya had established a good prima facie case and that "the balance of convenience also tilts in her favour."

The court further stated, "The misuse of the Plaintiff's name, image, likeness and other elements of the Plaintiff's persona clearly constitutes infringement as the adoption of the aforementioned attributes, such as name, image, signature, likeness, etc, without any authorisation from the Plaintiff, will inevitably cause confusion and create a perception of endorsement by the Plaintiff."

It also observed that "it is clear that the attributes of the Plaintiff's persona, including her name and images, are being misused by Defendant Nos. 1 to 9 and 13, without any authorisation from the Plaintiff, by employing technological tools, including Artificial Intelligence. 

The said misuse is not only causing financial detriment to the Plaintiff, but also leads to harming her dignity, reputation and goodwill."

The court recognised the actress's standing in the industry, stating, "Since the Plaintiff is one of the most celebrated personalities in the Indian entertainment industry, who has served various brands as their ambassador, she has garnered significant goodwill and reputation such that the members of the public repose their trust in the brands endorsed by the Plaintiff."

What Did Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's Lawyer Say?

Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi, representing Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, highlighted the rampant exploitation of her identity for both commercial and inappropriate purposes. 

He told the court that numerous websites falsely presented themselves as her official platforms, misleading the public and infringing on her publicity rights.

Sethi presented evidence of merchandise ranging from mugs and T-shirts to drinkware bearing her name and image without authorisation. He said, "Please see the second defendant. Aishwarya Rai wallpapers, photos, etc. The third defendant is a collection of T-shirts; her pictures on T-shirts are sold."

He further said, "They are collecting money on the representation of my association. Screenshots on YouTube where images morphed; these are never images belonging to Aishwarya Rai. Neither has she authorised such images. All AI-generated."
The senior advocate also raised the issue of obscene and morphed images being circulated online. "Some intimate photographs were being used that are completely unreal," he added. 

He pointed to companies using fake representations, saying some entities are 'John Doe', using her image on coffee mugs and other articles without permission.

In a troubling revelation, Sethi pointed to a company named Aishwarya Nation Wealth, which had falsely listed Rai as its Chairperson on official documents. He described this act as fraudulent and clarified that his client "had no awareness of or involvement with such entities."

Appearing for Google, advocate Mamta Rani stated that specific URLs would need to be submitted for content takedown. Justice Karia stated that while a unified order would be ideal, injunctions might need to be issued individually depending on the extent of violations.

The court advised that the plaintiff could approach the Blocking and Screening Instructions (BSI) process or provide specific URLs for takedown. 

It further clarified that "since the reliefs sought were broad, it would pass orders against each defendant individually. If a common order were possible, the court would issue it; otherwise, injunctions would be granted separately."

Background

Following his wife Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's petition, actor Abhishek Bachchan approached the same court seeking similar protection for his personality rights. 

According to Live Mint, he filed a case against a website named Bollywood Tee Shop, which sells T-shirts featuring Bollywood celebrities without consent.

Abhishek Bachchan argued that his persona, including images, was being misused without authorisation and warned that fake online identities could lead to fraud. 

He sought injunctions to block the website and others, requesting that "all online website links pertaining to the plea be removed from the Internet via platforms such as Google and YouTube."

His suit, filed by Ameet Naik and Pravin Anand of Anand and Naik, also sought liberty to extend the order to 'John Doe' defendants, parties that cannot be identified but may engage in similar violations in the future.

Several other celebrities, including Abhishek's father and veteran star Amitabh Bachchan, as well as actors Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff, have previously approached the Delhi High Court to safeguard their personality rights, including likeness and voice.

In a statement, Ameet Nayak said, "Previously, the Delhi High Court delivered landmark orders in the personality rights cases for celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff. Taking down the infringing URLs is the right step, with credit to Mr Pravin Anand. We must protect our clients in this era of evolving technology and digital media."