Bollywood actor Salman Khan has approached the Delhi High Court seeking legal protection of his personality and publicity rights, becoming the latest prominent figure to challenge the unauthorised commercial use of celebrity identity.
The plea will be heard tomorrow, December 11, by Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora.
Khan has asked the court to restrain several social media platforms, websites and e-commerce entities from using his name, photographs, voice, likeness or any aspect of his persona without permission. The petition argues that such unauthorised use not only violates his personality rights but also misleads the public and allows third parties to profit from his identity.
Personality or publicity rights refer to an individual’s right to control, protect and commercially benefit from the use of their name, image, likeness or other identifiable characteristics.
The move comes amid a growing wave of similar petitions by high-profile personalities. In recent weeks, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Ajay Devgn, filmmaker Karan Johar, singer Kumar Sanu, Telugu actor Nagarjuna, ‘Art of Living’ founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, journalist Sudhir Chaudhary and podcaster Raj Shamani have all secured interim protection from the Delhi High Court over the unauthorised use of their identity.
Telugu star Jr NTR has also filed a similar petition; the court has yet to deliver an order in his case.
The outcome of Salman Khan’s plea is likely to add to the growing jurisprudence around personality rights in India, a legal space that has rapidly expanded with the rise of digital platforms, AI-generated content and deepfakes.
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