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Relief for Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn: Delhi HC orders takedown of deepfakes, objectionable content

While seeking to protect his personality rights, the Bollywood actor also sought that YouTube be directed not to use infringing videos/material uploaded ‘to train any AI-Models’.

ajay devgnDevgn joins a slew of celebrities — Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Karan Johar and Kumar Sanu — who have moved court seeking protection of their personality rights, especially with the proliferation of AI-content impersonating them and their attributes.

The Delhi High Court Thursday protected the personality rights of actor Ajay Devgn, ordering infringing websites to take down deepfakes with inappropriate content as well as other content with unauthorised use of his name.

Devgn joins a slew of celebrities — Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Karan Johar and Kumar Sanu — who have moved court seeking protection of their personality rights, especially with the proliferation of AI-content impersonating them and their attributes.

Devgn is also seeking that YouTube be directed not to use infringing videos/material uploaded “to train any AI-Models”.

Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora ordered for the protection, similar to the relief granted by the court earlier to other celebrities.

Devgn, apart from acting, directing and producing, and founding a visual effects studio, has claimed in his plaint that he is associated with various brands such as “Vimal, Lakhani, Amul Comfy, Pushp, Dabur Babool” etc, and is a “family friendly personality”.

Among the entities that he has flagged for misusing his name and personality is a platform that purportedly claims to book an appearance of Devgn despite the actor not authorising it; e-commerce platforms selling his posters and other merchandise unauthorisedly; a YouTube channel “creating unauthorised and unpleasant AI-generated content using” his name, image likeness etc; and fan club pages on Facebook.

Devgn has flagged pornographic content, “including deepfake pornographic content”, being hosted and disseminated which is harming his reputation.

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While Justice Arora orally inquired from Devgn’s counsel if they have registered a protest with YouTube or Google for platforming inappropriate or unpleasant content, they responded that the platforms often ask for a court order.

The court orally indicated that it will be passing orders with respect to this aspect for social media intermediaries.

What has the actor sought

Devgn, before the HC, is seeking that his personality and publicity rights be protected, including protecting variants of his name — such as ‘Ajay Veeru Devgn’ or ‘Ajay Veeru Devgan’.

He also sought that “adequate and workable safeguards” be deployed to ensure that content infringing the intellectual property rights of an individual are not used for the purposes of training AI-Models.

Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court Professional Profile Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express. Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare). Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others. She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020. With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles: High-Profile Case Coverage She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots. She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy. Signature Style Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system. X (Twitter): @thanda_ghosh ... Read More

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