"Misuse impacts the right to live with dignity."
The Delhi High Court has ruled in favour of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, protecting her identity from unauthorised exploitation through artificial intelligence and other technological tools.
Justice Tejas Karia delivered the order on September 11, 2025, stating that misuse of the actor’s name, image or likeness violates her fundamental rights to privacy and dignity.
The court emphasised that unauthorised use of her identity can mislead the public into believing she endorses certain products or services, thereby damaging her reputation and goodwill.
An ex parte ad interim injunction was granted, restraining defendants from using her name “Aishwarya Rai Bachchan”, acronym “ARB”, image, or likeness for commercial or personal gain.
The order applies across all technologies, including AI, deepfakes, face morphing and machine learning, covering online and offline mediums.
This reflects the court’s stance against digital identity misuse.
Google LLC was directed to remove URLs listed in the case within 72 hours and submit subscriber details of operators in a sealed format.
Additionally, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology was instructed to block the identified URLs within seven days to prevent further circulation of illegal content.
The plea highlighted that defendants had used AI to generate sexually explicit deepfake content featuring the actor’s face, spreading it through online platforms.
Senior advocate Sandeep Sethi, representing Rai, told the court that “completely unreal intimate photographs” were being circulated, amounting to a gross violation of her dignity.
He added: “Her name and likeness is being used to satisfy someone’s sexual desires. This is very unfortunate,” underscoring the severity of digital exploitation.
The petition also revealed the sale of unauthorised merchandise, including T-shirts and mugs carrying her image, which further diluted her brand value.
Named defendants included websites such as aishwaryaworld.com, apkpure.com, bollywoodteeshop.com and kashcollectiveco.com, along with e-commerce platform Etsy, chatbot site jainatorai.com, YouTube channels, Google LLC and the IT Ministry.
The court acknowledged Rai’s global reputation as one of India’s most celebrated actors and brand ambassadors, ruling that misuse of her persona significantly harms her legacy.
Justice Karia stated:
“Personality rights allow a person to control and protect how their image, name and likeness are used.”
“Misuse impacts the right to live with dignity.”
Rai’s petition sought urgent intervention to curb AI-generated pornographic content and misuse of her identity, an issue increasingly facing high-profile celebrities worldwide.
The court’s ruling sets a precedent in addressing concerns over digital exploitation, with Justice Karia hinting at interim cautionary measures against potential offenders in future.
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