A woman has told the Delhi High Court that her photograph was morphed using AI tools into an explicit image and circulated online, and that, despite an FIR, the content remains viral, exposing her to threats and trauma. The Court has agreed to hear her plea urgently. The allegations, directed against leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party, are untested, and the woman’s identity is protected by law.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has allowed the urgent listing of a plea by a woman seeking the removal of alleged deepfake and morphed images of her from social media and other websites, and directions against leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) whom she accuses of creating and circulating the content [X v. State (NCT of Delhi) and Others].
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia agreed to list the matter, which was mentioned by Advocate Umesh Sharma, who submitted that an FIR had already been registered in the matter. The cause title anonymises the petitioner as “X”, and her identity is not disclosed.
The allegations
According to the plea, the petitioner’s personal photograph was harvested without authorisation and, using AI face-swapping tools, her face was morphed onto an explicit and compromising image alongside the Prime Minister; the resulting content, she alleges, was circulated online, printed on banners, and uploaded to social media and pornographic websites, accompanied by derogatory slogans. She describes it as a coordinated cyber-assault and character assassination through deepfake technology, and says that, despite the registration of an FIR, the content remains viral because the authorities have not issued statutory takedown directions.
The petitioner has named four CJP leaders in her plea. These are the allegations of the petitioner, made at the stage of seeking urgent relief; they have not been tested or established, no findings have been recorded against the persons named, and they are entitled to the presumption of innocence. The details of the impugned content are not reproduced here.
The reliefs sought
The petitioner seeks a direction to the police to provide her protection, alleging that the circulation of the content has exposed her to continuous intimidation, threats and severe mental trauma. She also seeks directions to the authorities to immediately trace, block and remove the morphed and deepfake content, not only from social media but from all pornographic websites where her image is alleged to have been uploaded. Her grievance, in substance, is that the existing takedown machinery has not moved quickly enough despite the FIR, leaving harmful content accessible online.
The Court has agreed to take up the plea; the reliefs sought, and the allegations underlying them, are yet to be considered on merits.
Why it matters
The plea reflects a growing category of harm in the age of generative AI: the creation of non-consensual, sexually explicit deepfake imagery by morphing a real person’s face onto fabricated content. Such material can inflict grave and lasting damage on a victim’s dignity, safety and mental health, and its viral spread, especially onto pornographic websites, makes prompt removal critical. The Information Technology framework and its rules provide mechanisms for the takedown of such content, and courts have, in a series of cases, directed intermediaries and authorities to trace and remove morphed and deepfake material expeditiously.
The petitioner’s core grievance is one of enforcement, that, notwithstanding an FIR, the statutory takedown machinery has not acted with the speed the situation demands, leaving the content accessible. Where a victim of image-based abuse approaches a court, the relief typically sought, and often granted on an urgent basis, is a direction to block and remove the offending content across platforms and to protect the victim, without at that stage adjudicating the criminal liability of those alleged to be responsible, which is a matter for investigation and trial.
Nothing has been decided. The Court has only agreed to hear the plea urgently; it has not, as yet, passed directions, nor made any finding on the allegations, which remain the petitioner’s untested assertions. The persons named in the plea are entitled to the presumption of innocence, and this report expresses no view on the truth of the allegations or on any individual’s involvement. What the matter squarely raises is the adequacy and speed of the legal response to non-consensual deepfake sexual imagery, an issue of increasing importance as such technology becomes more accessible.
Case Title: X v. State (NCT of Delhi) and Others
Bench: Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia, High Court of Delhi at New Delhi
Appearance: Advocate Umesh Sharma for the petitioner.
Status: Urgent listing allowed; plea to be heard. No directions passed and no findings recorded. Allegations untested; persons named entitled to the presumption of innocence. Petitioner’s identity anonymised.
This report concerns a sensitive matter involving alleged image-based sexual abuse; the woman’s identity is protected by law and has not been disclosed. If you or someone you know needs support, the women’s helpline 181 and the police helpline 112 can direct you to assistance.