Personality rights are not a standalone claim in Indian law, amicus curiae Gautam Bhatia submitted to the Delhi High Court on Thursday.
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New Delhi: Broad personality rights claims risk free speech, Advocate Gautam Bhatia told the Delhi High Court on Thursday, speaking as amicus curiae in the Court’s personality rights proceedings. Satire, memes and fan-work, he said, deserve protection.
His submissions came in the batch of suits by film personalities who want their name, image, voice and likeness protected against misuse, including through artificial intelligence. The Court had earlier appointed amici curiae to assist it on the wider legal issues.
How the amici came in
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani made the appointments on September 3, 2026: Mr. Bhatia in the suit filed by actor Janhvi Kapoor, and Advocate Rohan Alva in the suit filed by actor Vivek Oberoi. The Court had said that in October it would take up the wider publicity-rights questions, especially prayers it described as over-broad because they touch on defamation or satire.
The submissions
Mr. Bhatia argued that a claim reaching every use of a person’s persona would chill expression, and that the law must leave room for parody, commentary, memes and fan-created work. He also submitted that personality rights are not a standalone claim in Indian law.
The plaintiffs in these suits, for their part, contend that unauthorised and AI-generated use of their identity causes real harm. So far, the Court has granted case-specific protection against such misuse, while declining a blanket takedown of every URL named in one suit.
No ruling has yet come on the amicus’s submissions, and the hearing on the broader questions is continuing.
Matter: Personality rights suits, including Janhvi Kapoor v. John Does and Others, Delhi High Court
Amicus Curiae: Advocate Gautam Bhatia (in the Janhvi Kapoor suit); Advocate Rohan Alva (in the Vivek Oberoi suit)
Date of Hearing: October 8, 2026