The Delhi High Court on Thursday reserved its order on interim relief sought by Raghav Chadha in a case alleging misuse of his personality rights through AI-generated deepfakes, morphed visuals and manipulated online content.
The matter was heard by Justice Subramonium Prasad, who observed during proceedings that the material presented before the court appeared, at first glance, to relate more to criticism of a political development rather than a direct violation of personality rights.
Court Examines Scope of Personality Rights
During the hearing, the court considered arguments relating to whether the disputed content fell under the category of defamation, political criticism or infringement of personality rights in the digital space.
The case revolves around allegedly altered visuals, AI-generated media and edited social media posts that Chadha claims were circulated online after recent political developments.
Justice Prasad orally remarked that the content appeared “prima facie” linked to political commentary, while indicating that the legal question surrounding personality rights would require detailed examination.
Chadha Seeks Removal of Online Content
Appearing for the Rajya Sabha MP, Advocate Satatya Anand argued that coordinated campaigns involving defamatory content were being run across multiple digital platforms.
“We are pressing for a stay on the content and removal of the content from the website,” Anand told the court.
He further alleged that the online material was part of organised efforts linked to recent political transitions.
“There are a lot of defamatory contents due to the political transition which has happened recently. These are orchestrated campaigns being run by several agencies,” the counsel said.
Social Media Platforms Named in Case
The petition names several major technology and social media companies as respondents, including Meta, X, YouTube and Google, along with unidentified individuals accused of circulating the alleged manipulated content.
According to Chadha’s legal team, the disputed material includes deepfakes, digitally altered visuals and edited media designed to damage his public image.
Court Says Defamation and Personality Rights Are Separate Issues
Speaking after the hearing, Advocate Satatya Anand said the court acknowledged concerns regarding the allegedly defamatory nature of the content but reserved its decision on whether the matter legally qualified as a personality rights violation.
“The order has been reserved, it will be released in due course,” Anand said.
“The court said that yes it is defamatory but whether it will fall into the domain of personality rights is something which they will be deciding in the interim,” he added.
Growing Legal Focus on AI Deepfakes
The case is among a growing number of legal disputes in India involving artificial intelligence-generated content, deepfakes and digital impersonation.
Legal experts say the proceedings could have wider implications for how Indian courts interpret personality rights, political satire, online criticism and platform liability in the era of AI-generated media.
