‘Line between defamation & criticism is thin’: Delhi HC on Raghav Chadha’s personality rights plea | India News

New Delhi: Delhi High Court Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Thursday reserved an order for interim relief in his plea alleging abuse of his personality rights through AI-generated deepfakes, morphed visuals and manipulated social media content.The matter was heard by Justice Subramoniam Prasad, who observed orally during the hearing that the matter placed before the court appeared to be a criticism of a political decision rather than a straightforward case of violation of personality rights.Observing that political leaders have historically been subjected to satire and public criticism, the bench observed, “Since independence we have been seeing RK Laxman cartoons. At that time, social media probably didn’t go to the extent it does today.”Senior advocate Rajeev Nair, appearing for Chadha, argued that several posts circulating online were not mere political criticism but defamatory and profane attacks portraying the MP as someone who had switched political sides for financial gain. Referring to some photographs placed before the court, Nair submitted, “She is shown in a sari. We see the Prime Minister distributing money, showering.”The bench, however, has repeatedly questioned whether criticism of a political leader’s public conduct or political preferences can be moderated under the Personality Rights Act. Nair argued that the matter also involved damage to reputation and defamation. “They say I’m in it for the money. That can’t be a fair criticism,” he submitted.During the hearing, Justice Prasad also hinted that the court may appoint an amicus curiae to help on broader legal questions related to the balance between freedom of speech and protection of dignity in the age of artificial intelligence and social media.“There are cases and cases. The line between defamation and criticism is very thin. It is very easy to see it from the other side, which affects your right to live with dignity. At the same time, Article 19 rights cannot be taken away,” the bench observed.Counsel appearing for Meta argued that several of the screenshots relied upon by Chadha were mere newspaper reports and otherwise benign material. After hearing the arguments of all the parties, the court reserved the order on the application seeking interim relief.Chadha approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection against misuse of her image, likeness, voice and identity through artificial intelligence and digitally manipulated content circulated online.His petition seeks directions to restrain the creation and dissemination of AI-generated deepfakes, morphed videos, synthetic voice clones, fabricated speeches and other allegedly fraudulent content on social media platforms.The petition states that the unauthorized use of his persona through AI tools is capable of misleading the public and tarnishing his reputation. Chadha, who earlier served as an MLA from Delhi’s Rajinder Nagar constituency between 2020 and 2022, joined the BJP in April 2026 after years with the Aam Aadmi Party.Speaking after the hearing, advocate Satyatya Anand, appearing for the matter, said the petition sought immediate removal of the allegedly defamatory content circulated online after Raghav Chadha’s recent political transition. He said multiple social media platforms and unidentified entities have been named as respondents in the suit.“We are pushing for a suspension of content and removal of content from the website… There is a lot of defamatory content due to the recent political changes. These are campaigns run by various organizations… Meta, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, Google and unknown infringers are the respondents… The order has been reserved, it will be published in due course… The court said yes it is defamatory but they will decide in the interim whether it falls in the domain of personality rights,” Anand said.The case is part of a growing series of issues before the Delhi High Court on personality and right of publicity in the age of artificial intelligence. Public figures including Anil Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan have previously secured protection against unauthorized use of their voice, likeness and identity through AI-generated content.