Filings by public figures seeking legal control over their names, likenesses, and personal identities have grown more frequent in recent years. Legal filings by a range of film industry figures — among them Salman Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Anil Kapoor — have sought court-backed protections covering their names, likenesses, voices, and related personal attributes against unauthorised commercial exploitation and content generated through artificial intelligence.
Among those who have filed for court-ordered protection are Kajol, Hrithik Roshan, Amitabh Bachchan, Kartik Aaryan, and Akshay Kumar. Kriti Sanon has now been added to that growing roster of names.
Kriti Sanon has turned to the Delhi High Court, filing a petition to have her personality rights formally recognised and protected. The bench has indicated it wants the applicable legal standards for such claims to be examined more thoroughly.
On Friday, the court indicated that the legal framework governing cases brought by public figures warrants closer scrutiny, a position shaped by the growing number of such actions being filed. During the hearing, the bench presided over by Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav directed counsel representing Kriti to compile a comprehensive dossier of prior rulings and academic research bearing on personality rights.
At issue before the court is how far legal protection extends to the distinct elements that make up a person's identity — covering attributes such as their name, likeness, voice, and recorded footage. The question of whether the High Court's Intellectual Property Division holds jurisdiction over such matters is also under review.
The bench directed parties to submit their arguments and analysis on the question of personality rights, according to media reports. A detailed ruling remained under consideration by the bench, pending its examination of the submitted materials. A follow-up proceeding has been set for the twenty-ninth of October.
In his court appearance, Anand gave an undertaking to file the necessary paperwork before the day was out. On the matter of jurisdiction, he put forward the position that Sanon's case raised no such concerns.
A growing number of public figures have turned to the Delhi High Court seeking legal protection for their personality rights. At the heart of such disputes lies the unpermitted exploitation of a person's identifying attributes — their name, likeness, recorded voice, photographs, or other distinguishing markers — particularly where a commercial benefit is sought.
Among those whose matters have come before the same court on comparable grounds are film personalities Kangana Ranaut, Tabu, and Vijay Deverakonda, along with cricketers Abhishek Sharma and Yuvraj Singh, politician Shashi Tharoor of the Congress party, and Andhra Pradesh's Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan.
Questions about how artificial intelligence tools and digital platforms are being deployed have prompted renewed scrutiny from multiple quarters. Among the reported practices are the unauthorised use of a celebrity's likeness, fabricated video content, impersonation, and the promotion of goods or services through that person's image without consent. Under personality rights law, an individual's identity cannot be commercially exploited or otherwise used without that person's consent.
