New Delhi, Oct 1
The Delhi High Court has granted an ad-interim injunction in favour of spiritual leader and Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, restraining unknown entities from unauthorised use of his name, image, likeness, voice, and other personality attributes through deepfakes and AI tools.
A single-judge Bench of Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, while hearing a suit filed by Ravi Shankar against unidentified defendants, observed that the circulation of fabricated videos depicting the plaintiff as endorsing alleged Ayurvedic or natural remedies for serious ailments like diabetes, haemorrhoids, and chronic pain amounted to misappropriation of personality and publicity rights.
The Delhi High Court noted that Ravi Shankar, widely recognised as “Gurudev†and “Sri Sriâ€, has an established reputation as a humanitarian leader and ambassador of peace, whose persona carries immense goodwill and commercial value. The plaintiff's legal team argued that deepfake videos not only deceive the public but also erode trust and cause irreparable damage to his dignity and reputation.
While issuing the interim order, the Delhi High Court observed, “It is evident that John Doe (unknown party) is circulating deep fake contents unauthorizedly using the name, voice, facial expressions, persona and likeness of the plaintiff. In view of the above, a prima facie case is made out in favour of the plaintiff.â€
“Balance of convenience is also in favour of the plaintiff, and irreparable harm will be caused to the plaintiff, if John Doe is not restrained to publish/circulate the deepfake contents,†it added.
Justice Arora restrained John Doe and all associated persons from misusing the plaintiff’s personality attributes, including his name, voice, image, likeness, and manner of discourse, in any form, as well as AI-generated or deepfake content.
Social media platform Facebook was ordered to remove/disable access within 36 hours to the URLs and accounts specified in the suit, and comply with future takedown requests by the plaintiff regarding similar infringing content.
Further, Domain Name Registrars were directed to lock and suspend specified infringing domains within 72 hours and disclose registrant details and IP addresses in compliance affidavits.
The Delhi High Court also asked the Ministry of Electronics and IT and the Department of Telecommunications to issue necessary notifications to ensure the blocking of the infringing websites. The matter has been listed before the Joint Registrar on October 15 and before the Delhi High Court on February 19, 2026.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Finally, courts are taking AI misuse seriously. Deepfakes are becoming a huge problem in India. This sets a good precedent for other public figures too.
As someone who follows Sri Sri's teachings, this is very concerning. His reputation is built on decades of service. Fake endorsements can mislead vulnerable people seeking genuine spiritual guidance.
While I understand the concern about reputation, I hope this doesn't set a precedent that limits legitimate criticism or parody. The line between protection and censorship can be thin.
Good move by Delhi HC! My mother almost bought some Ayurvedic product because of these fake videos. These fraudsters prey on people's faith in spiritual leaders. Strict action needed! 🔥
The 36-hour takedown notice to Facebook is impressive. Most platforms take weeks to act. Hope this speeds up the process for other victims of deepfake technology.
This judgment is important, but we also need public awareness. Many elderly people in India can't distinguish between real and AI-generated content. Digital literacy is equally important.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.