In recent months many celebrities have been seen approaching Delhi High Court for protection of their personality rights. From
Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan to Nagarjuna, Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff, it appears like the star cast of a blockbuster film, but the list is beyond bollywood celebrities. Experts attribute it to the reputation of the HC for being good at protecting IP rights.
It’s not just actors. A film director (Karan Johar), two spiritual gurus (Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Jaggi Vasudev) and a journalist (Rajat Sharma) have also approached the Court to safeguard their personality rights. In response, various benches have passed a series of significant orders, including directions to block deepfakes, AI-generated content and pornographic material misusing these celebrities’ identities.
What’s striking is that most of these public figures are not based in the national capital. Yet, they continue to choose the Delhi High Court to assert their rights .So why are these cases ending up in Delhi and what makes the Delhi High Court the preferred forum to assert personality rights?For decades, the Delhi High Court has been the hub for Intellectual Property (IP) lawsuits.
Pravin Anand, Managing Partner at Anand & Anand, says that soon after its founding, the Delhi High Court developed a reputation for being good at protecting IP rights. Therefore, irrespective of which part of the country a person or a firm developed their IP, they wanted it protected by the High Court. “You want it protected by what you consider to be the most efficient system, and the Delhi High Court has acquired that reputation,” he said.
Anand explains that Delhi has developed an entire ecosystem of practitioners, law firms, books and seminars focused on IP. The fact that Delhi is the seat of the Central government helps enforce the court orders, he said. “So, the whole infrastructure which was required to give special recognition to IP developed here. It's a proper ecosystem which could not develop so well in other parts of the country. And I think that's the reason why almost 70% of all IP cases are from Delhi."
In India, like most of the world, there is no statutory recognition of personality rights. The law around it has developed through judicial pronouncements. And the Delhi High Court had an early start in recognising and protecting these rights.“That was an order emanating from the Delhi High Court, and that became the basis for other cases. Whether it’s Mr [Amitabh] Bachchan, Mr [Anil] Kapoor, or Mr Jackie Shroff, etc.
It is because there was a jurisprudence developed there at the Delhi High Court and typically you go to the High Court which has passed the most recent order,” Ameet Naik said. Anand has a theory on the development of IP protection law in Delhi. He argues that over time, most of the counterfeiting and piracy began and flourished in North India, and that is why the measures to counter them also developed in the North.
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