New Delhi: Actress and Rajya Sabha member Jaya Bachchan has taken a strong stand to protect her image and personality rights. She has moved the Delhi High
Court seeking legal action against people who have used morphed images and videos of her without permission.
The court hearing attracted attention as it touched upon the wider issue of protecting celebrities from the misuse of their identity on social media and online platforms.
Jaya Bachchan approaches Delhi High Court
Jaya Bachchan, the veteran actress and Member of Parliament from the Rajya Sabha, has filed a case in the Delhi High Court for the protection of her personality rights. The issue raised involves unauthorised use of her images, including morphed pictures, being circulated online and used on merchandise without her consent.
Details of the case and court proceedings
In the hearing, Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora presided over the case. Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi, representing Jaya Bachchan, informed the court about several defendants involved. He said, “Morphed images of the actress have been published,” and also mentioned that others were selling merchandise featuring her images without permission. Sethi told the court that a YouTube channel and an Instagram page had posted morphed and impersonated images and videos defaming the actress.
However, regarding the claim of copyright on movie posters, the court remarked, “These are movie posters. How do you claim copyright in these? Copyright is not vested with you but with whoever is the owner of the movie.”
The court noted that only Google’s counsel was present, so it instructed Jaya Bachchan’s legal team to refile the plaint with corrections and also serve notices to the Union of India, eBay, Facebook, and Amazon. Justice Arora said, “You need to refile the plaint. There are many typographical errors. I will pass the order, but you refile it in two days. Please also refile the application. I will pass the order, but please refile that also.”
Wider context of personality rights protection
Recently, courts have given protection to the personality rights of several prominent figures such as Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Telugu actor Nagarjuna, Bollywood actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, and film producer Karan Johar. Justice Arora also recently protected journalist Sudhir Chaudhary against misleading AI-generated videos spread on social media.
This case highlights growing concerns over online defamation, misuse, and impersonation of public figures in India, stressing the need for robust legal safeguards in the digital age. The next hearing in Jaya Bachchan’s case is scheduled for 1:25 PM today in the Delhi High Court.
