The Delhi High Court ordered the removal of five allegedly defamatory posts targeting Raghav Chadha while refusing broader personality rights protection, holding that most of the disputed content amounted to political criticism rather than a violation of personality rights.
Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha. (File photo: IANS)
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the removal of five social media posts that it found to be prima facie defamatory against Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha. However, the court declined to grant broader interim protection over other online content, holding that the dispute did not involve personality rights.
The order came on Chadha’s plea seeking action against the alleged misuse of his name, image, likeness and identity through AI-generated deepfakes, morphed visuals, synthetic voice cloning and other manipulated digital content circulated after his reported political switch.
Advertisement
Justice Subramonium Prasad held that only five of the challenged posts warranted removal at this stage.
Advertisement
“There is no personality right involved. However, I have ordered a takedown of only five documents. Rest is not defamatory prima facie,” the court observed while pronouncing the order.
The court refused to issue a blanket direction for the removal of all the content identified by Chadha or to grant wider protection under personality and publicity rights.
During earlier hearings, the High Court had indicated that the dispute appeared to arise from criticism of a political decision rather than the unauthorised commercial exploitation of an individual’s identity.
While reserving its verdict in May, the Bench had remarked, “Prima facie, there is no personality right involved in this case. A decision taken by you in a political arena is being criticised.”
The court had also observed that the distinction between legitimate criticism and defamation was “quite thin” and suggested that personality rights may not be the appropriate legal remedy in the present case.
Senior advocate Rajiv Nayar, appearing for Chadha, argued that several posts had crossed the line from political criticism to defamation.
According to the submissions, some content falsely portrayed the MP as having “sold himself for money”. Nayar referred to morphed images, including visuals allegedly depicting the Prime Minister showering Chadha with cash, and argued that such material was profane and seriously damaged his client’s reputation.
The High Court, however, had orally observed that the grievance appeared to relate to defamation rather than personality rights.
“It is not a defamation suit. It is a suit on the basis of personality rights,” Justice Prasad had remarked, while suggesting that Chadha could consider amending his pleadings if he wished to pursue defamation claims.
Counsel representing Meta also disputed parts of the allegations during the proceedings, arguing that some of the material cited by Chadha consisted of newspaper reports or otherwise innocuous content.
The detailed written order is yet to be uploaded on the Delhi High Court’s website.
Advertisement
