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Delhi High Court Issues John Doe Injunction Shielding Pawan Kalyan’s Personality Rights

Platforms must process the case under the IT Rules, with key deadlines already set.

Overview

  • Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora found prima facie that Pawan Kalyan’s celebrity status gives him proprietary personality rights and that unauthorized commercial use violates those rights.
  • An ex-parte John Doe injunction restrains use of his name, image, voice or likeness for merchandise or AI-enabled webpage tools without consent.
  • Defendants named include Flipkart, Amazon Seller Services, Meesho, Google and Meta, along with unidentified entities accused of exploiting his attributes.
  • The court directed social media and e-commerce intermediaries to treat the suit as a complaint under the IT Rules, and allowed non-infringing sites to seek modification upon an undertaking.
  • Procedural dates were set: additional documents due by January 22, a listing before the Joint Registrar on February 9, and a court hearing on May 12, 2026.