Delhi High Court Orders Removal of AI-Generated Deepfakes Targeting Actress Kajol

What happened

The Delhi High Court on February 20, 2026 passed an interim order protecting the personality rights of actor Kajol Devgan.

Justice Jyoti Singh restrained several defendants from using Kajol's name, image, voice, or likeness for commercial purposes, including selling merchandise, without her permission.

The Court directed various defendants to remove pornographic and obscene material published online against the actress, and stated that her personality rights must be protected from misuse through artificial intelligence and deepfake technology.

Reported impact

Kajol's personality rights were subject to misuse through AI-generated deepfakes and obscene content published online.

Index analysis

The Delhi High Court has been expanding jurisprudence around personality rights, particularly in relation to digital misuse, having recently granted strong protection to other public figures including Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Nagarjuna.

The Court expressed concern about emerging threats such as deepfakes, voice cloning, and synthetic visuals, noting that they infringe upon an individual's dignity and privacy, while reinforcing that satire, artistic expression, commentary, and news reporting must remain unaffected.

Governance controls

The interim order restrained defendants from unauthorized commercial use of Kajol's identity and directed removal of obscene material, with further orders indicated to ensure no one uses her identity in manipulated digital content.

Classification

Organizations

Delhi High Court (regulator), Kajol Devgan (victim), Justice Jyoti Singh

Category

Intellectual property and appropriation

Industry

Media, social platforms and marketing

Country

India

Harm status

Actual harm

Intent

Unknown

Timing

Unknown

Harm types

Reputational, Human or fundamental rights

Failure modes

Deepfake video

Consequences

Content removal

Sources and evidence

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