Delhi Court Rejects Raghav Chadha's Personality Rights Plea, Orders Removal of Five Defamatory Posts

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to grant interim protection to BJP MP Raghav Chadha’s claimed personality rights in a suit alleging that AI-generated deepfakes, manipulated videos and defamatory social media content were circulated against him following his political shift from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Justice Subramonium Prasad held that the case did not, at this stage, involve a violation of personality rights. However, the judge directed the removal of five specific posts that it found to be prima facie defamatory. The court did not order takedown of the remaining content, stating that it did not meet the threshold for defamation.

“There is no personality right involved. However, I have ordered take down of only five documents. Rest is not defamatory prima facie,” Justice Prasad said while pronouncing the order.

Mr Chadha, in his plea, alleged that after he was removed as the Deputy Leader of the AAP in the Rajya Sabha and subsequently joined the BJP, an orchestrated campaign involving malicious AI-generated content, deepfakes and manipulated videos was launched to malign his reputation. He sought protection of his personality rights and removal of the offending material.

During the previous hearing, the Court had expressed reservations about the maintainability of the personality rights claim, observing that the dispute appeared to concern criticism of a political leader’s decisions rather than the unauthorised commercial exploitation of his identity.

“The first impression... Prima facie, there is no personality right violation,” Justice Prasad had remarked, adding that “a decision taken by you in the political arena is being criticised.”

Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayar, appearing for Chadha, argued that several social media posts had crossed the line from legitimate political criticism to defamation by falsely portraying the Rajya Sabha MP as having “sold himself for money.”

Justice Prasad, however, questioned whether such allegations could be brought within the ambit of personality rights. “As a political leader, can you be sensitive…,” the court observed, adding that there was a distinction between “commercialising personality rights and criticism”.

The Court had then also referred to precedent in the Shashi Tharoor case, where the court protected the personality rights of the Congress leader because of his distinctive style of speech and demeanour. In Chadha's case, the court found that the disputed posts targeted his political decisions rather than his unique identity, thus falling outside the scope of personality rights.

Personality rights typically protect individuals from the unauthorised commercial use of their name, image, or likeness. The court noted that political criticism, even if harsh, does not constitute a violation of these rights unless it involves commercial exploitation or false endorsement. The interim order permits Chadha to pursue his defamation claim regarding the five posts but does not grant broader relief.

The case continues to be heard, with the next hearing scheduled for a later date.