The Delhi High Court on Tuesday extended protection to the personality and publicity rights of former Indian cricketer and commentator Sunil Gavaskar, restraining multiple websites and online platforms from using his name images or likeness for commercial purposes without consent. The court also imposed restrictions on the use of Gavaskar’s personality traits through artificial intelligence tools and deepfake technology.
Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora directed that obscene and infringing content related to Gavaskar be taken down from the internet.
The court ordered that the identified URLs hosting offensive material, videos and posts must be removed within seventy two hours. It further clarified that if websites fail to comply within the stipulated timeframe, the concerned social media intermediaries would be required to take down the content. The matter has been scheduled for further hearing on May twenty two.
Reacting to the order, Sunil Gavaskar said the ruling represents an important judicial acknowledgment of a sportsperson’s personality and publicity rights in India. He noted that the decision assumes greater significance in cases involving unauthorised attribution, digital circulation and commercial exploitation across social media and e commerce platforms.
Earlier, on December twelve, the high court had directed social media intermediaries to act within seven days on Gavaskar’s plea seeking protection of his personality rights.
The court had asked his legal team to first approach the platforms with specific grievances and instructed intermediaries to treat the plea as a formal complaint under the Information Technology Intermediaries Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules twenty twenty one.
During the latest hearing, the court was informed that although some infringing content had been removed, several links and materials were still accessible online. Gavaskar had approached the court to prevent the unauthorised use of his name persona images and likeness by social media platforms and e commerce websites, asserting his right to control and monetise his public identity.
Personality rights, also known as publicity rights, allow individuals to protect and regulate the commercial use of their image name and likeness. In recent months, several prominent public figures including actors filmmakers spiritual leaders journalists and digital creators have approached the Delhi High Court seeking similar protection. The court has granted interim relief in many of these cases, reflecting a growing judicial focus on safeguarding individual identity in the digital age.
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