After Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan approaches Delhi HC to protect Personality Rights

New Delhi: Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan has approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality rights, including his name, image, photographs, voice, and performances, from unauthorised use on digital platforms for commercial or personal gain.

The petition came up today, before Justice Tejas Karia, who noted that the Court could direct Google to remove links violating Bachchan’s rights if a list of specific URLs is provided.

“We can ask Google to take down. But you have to give a URL specific to each defendant. If you can identify the platform, it can be easily done. YouTube, Amazon, and Flipkart are mentioned in the petition, but this order cannot be granted generally. It has to be divided defendant-wise,” Justice Karia observed.

The legal team representing Abhishek Bachchan includes Pravin Anand, Ameet Naik, Madhu Gadodia, Dhruv Anand, Udita Patro, Nimrat Singh, Deveesha Tudekar, Dhananjay Khanna, Aayushi Udani, Riya Kumar, and Unnati Gambani.

Bachchan’s counsel, advocate Pravin Anand, assured the Court that the details would be submitted. “Please pass over, we will divide as per the defendant,” he said. The matter has been passed over and will be taken up again at 2:30 PM today.

The development comes just a day after Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek’s wife and acclaimed Bollywood actor, moved the Delhi High Court with a similar plea to safeguard her personality rights.

She raised serious concerns about the unauthorised commercial and digital misuse of her name, photographs, and public persona.

Justice Tejas Karia, who is also hearing her matter, signalled intent to issue injunctions to curb the misuse and has scheduled the case for further proceedings on January 15, 2026.

Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi, appearing for Rai, highlighted rampant violations, ranging from fake websites posing as her official platforms to merchandise, such as mugs, T-shirts, and drinkware, that illegally carry her name and images. He also revealed that a company called Aishwarya Nation Wealth had fraudulently listed Rai as its Chairperson in official records without her knowledge.

In a disturbing disclosure, Sethi told the Court that obscene, morphed, and AI-generated images of Rai were circulating online, describing the misuse of her likeness for sexually explicit content as “grossly violative” of her dignity.

During hearings, Justice Karia stated that a single comprehensive order would be ideal; the reliefs sought were broad and would require defendant-wise injunctions. The Court clarified that specific URLs could be taken down via orders to platforms or through the Blocking and Screening Instructions (BSI) process.