The Delhi High Court protected personality rights of Aniruddhacharya, restraining unauthorised use of his name, voice, or image including AI and deepfakes. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela granted interim relief on March 30.
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has safeguarded the personality rights of preacher Aniruddhacharya, popularly known as ‘Pookie’ Baba, and barred the unauthorised use of his name, voice, or image for memes, videos or any other material, including AI-generated or deepfake content.
Justice Tushar Rao Gedela issued the interim injunction on March 30 in response to a suit filed by Aniruddhacharya.
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The court also ordered social media platforms Meta, X and Google to remove the objectionable content identified by the plaintiff that unlawfully used or impersonated his persona.
The bench observed that, prima facie, a strong case existed in the plaintiff’s favour, noting that he is a well-known, popular and widely accepted public figure.
The court found that the material highlighted by him was not “mere parody” and appeared to be derogatory and in violation of his personality rights.
It added that the fear of harm to the plaintiff’s image and personality, prima facie, seemed real and immediate.
Aniruddhacharya alleged that various parties were appropriating elements of his persona without authorisation, licence or consent, with the ulterior aim of obtaining unlawful commercial benefit and free-riding on his substantial goodwill, commercial value and reputation.
His counsel argued that certain fabricated and deceptive posts were being circulated to falsely imply that he endorsed or was linked to fraudulent schemes and counterfeit goods and services.
They further submitted that the distortion and misrepresentation of his teachings in these posts had caused a loss of goodwill among his followers and carried the risk of misleading the public.