Delhi HC grants Naga Chaitanya interim relief in personality rights case
The Delhi High Court has stepped in to protect Telugu actor Naga Chaitanya’s personality rights, issuing summons against unnamed defendants and signalling that an interim order would follow, after the court was shown the scale of misuse of his identity across digital platforms.
The suit, which was heard on Friday, alleges widespread and systematic unauthorised exploitation of Naga Chaitanya’s personality rights by various entities through pornographic websites, AI-generated content, deepfake videos, defamatory material, and unauthorised commercial use of his identity.
The court was specifically shown instances of websites pairing the actor’s name with explicit search terms to drive traffic, as well as unauthorised merchandise listings carrying his likeness. The suit also flagged manipulated content and allegedly defamatory material related to his personal life that has been circulating online.
The suit states that cease-and-desist notices and legal complaints had already been issued to several intermediaries, online platforms and service providers. However, many either failed to respond adequately or provided only partial compliance, allowing the infringing material to continue being disseminated and monetised.
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The actor has also sought a dynamic injunction, a mechanism that allows courts to extend protection to new infringing URLs as they emerge, without requiring fresh litigation each time. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court issued summons and indicated it would pass an interim order protecting the plaintiff’s personality rights pending further proceedings. The matter has been listed for further hearing on September 30.
The case is part of a broader wave of personality rights litigation being filed by Indian celebrities against the unchecked misuse of their identities online. Karan Johar, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Abhishek Bachchan have previously moved the same court over similar concerns. Naga Chaitanya’s father, Nagarjuna Akkineni, had also secured an interim injunction from the Delhi High Court in September 2025, with the court restraining entities from using his name, image, voice, and persona without authorisation, including through AI tools such as deepfakes and generative AI. Other Telugu stars including Chiranjeevi, Mahesh Babu, and Jr. NTR have similarly obtained protection for their personality rights from the court.
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