A woman has approached the Bombay High Court against the unauthorized use of her photo in state advertisements and political campaigns. She claimed that her image was used to promote government schemes without her consent. The issue arose after a photographer uploaded her picture on Shutterstock without permission. The case raises concerns about privacy and misuse of personal images in public campaigns.
Mumbai: A woman approached the Bombay High Court seeking action against the unauthorized use of her photograph by political parties and various states to promote their schemes.
According to her plea, both private and government entities have exploited her image without her consent, infringing upon her fundamental privacy rights.
On March 10, a bench of Justice G.S. Kulkarni and Advait M. Sethna heard the plea and requested responses from the photographer who allegedly took her picture, Shutterstock (a U.S. company that provides royalty-free stock photos), and from several states, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, and Odisha.
The Court stated in its order,
“The issues are quite serious, considering the contemporary times of an electronic era and social media. The respondents need to answer the writ petition,”
The petition filed by Namrata Ankush Kawale, who informed the Court that her photograph was taken by a local photographer named Tukaram Nivrutti Karve during one of his visits to her village.
Karve later uploaded the image to Shutterstock, a U.S.-based company that offers royalty-free stock photographs, which allowed various political parties and state governments to use the image without her consent.
The photograph has since been utilized in advertisements and campaigns by several entities, including the state governments of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Odisha, and Telangana, the Congress Party of Telangana, the Union Ministry of Rural Development, and private companies such as Total Dental Care Pvt. Ltd.
Kawale is now seeking a permanent injunction to prevent these entities from displaying, distributing, sharing, selling, or using her photograph on websites, social media platforms, advertisements, promotions, or in any other manner. She has also requested appropriate action against the respondents for the unauthorized use of her image and the infringement of her privacy rights.
In her plea, Kawale expressed that the violation of her privacy is extremely concerning, stating that such actions should not have occurred by responsible entities like the respondents, who are expected to comply with the law.
On Monday, the Court acknowledged some merit in her concerns.
The Court noted,
“Prima facie, it appears to be a commercial exploitation of the petitioner’s photograph. This is alleged to have happened completely without the petitioner even being informed about the same,”
The judges also raised issues regarding the unauthorized use of personal images by both state and private entities, particularly in the context of social media.
The Court will hear the matter again on March 24.
Advocate Nitin Kasliwal, along with advocates Aniket Pawar, Ganu Keluskar, Pranjal Shewale, and Sarjerao Lawand, represented the petitioner.
Advocate Amad S. Tikak appeared for the photographer, Tukaram Nivrutti Karve, while Advocate Sanskruti Harode, instructed by Parinam Law Associates, represented Siddharth Anil Shirole, a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Maharashtra.
Additional Government Pleaders B.V. Samant and T.J. Kapre appeared for the State.
Case Title: Namrata Ankush Kawale and anr v Tukaram Nivrutti Karve