Gavaskar moves Delhi HC seeking protection of personality rights

Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar has approached the Delhi High Court alleging rampant misuse of his name, image and likeness across social media and e-commerce platforms — prompting the court to direct intermediaries to treat his suit as a formal complaint under the IT Rules, 2021.

Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora instructed platforms to act on Gavaskar’s complaint within one week, after his legal team submitted a list of infringing links. The court reiterated that individuals must first exhaust the takedown mechanism provided under the 2021 IT Rules before seeking judicial orders.

“Approach the intermediaries first… let them act on your complaint,” the judge remarked, adding that most grievances get resolved at this stage.

The court also asked Gavaskar to share specific URLs within 48 hours for prompt action.

This comes a day after the High Court issued a similar direction in Salman Khan’s suit against fake news and AI-generated misuse of his identity. Gavaskar now joins a rising list of public figures — including Jr NTR, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Nagarjuna, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Karan Johar — seeking judicial protection over personality and publicity rights amid growing online misuse.

With deepfakes, impersonation and commercial exploitation on the rise, India’s celebrities are increasingly turning to the courts to safeguard their digital identity.