Suniel V Shetty vs John Doe S Ashok Kumar S

Digitally signed by 1/15 904-ial-32198-25.doc MEERA MEERA MAHESH MAHESH JADHAV JADHAV Date: 2025.10.10 18:17:56 +0530 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION IN ITS COMMERCIAL DIVISION INTERIM APPLICATION(L) NO. 32198 OF 2025 IN COMMERCIAL IP SUIT (L) NO. 32130 OF 2025

Suniel V Shetty ...Applicant/Plaintiff Versus John Doe S Ashok Kumar ...Defendant ----- Dr. Birendra Saraf, Advocate General, Adv. Janay Jain al/w Adv. Monisha Mane Bhangale, Adv. Bijal Vora, Adv. Tamanna Meghrajani, Adv. Pavanaj R. Hariharan i/b Parinam Law Associates for the Plaintiff ----- CORAM : ARIF S. DOCTOR, J.

DATE : 10 th OCTOBER, 2025. P.C:

1 By the present Suit, the Plaintiff has inter-alia sought the protection of

his personality rights, his right to privacy and right to live with dignity

guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India and also the

protection of his moral rights under the Copyright Act, 1957. The Plaintiff

asserts that his stated rights are being infringed and violated by

unauthorized use and commercial exploitation and misrepresentation on

different social media platforms and over the internet by various parties

some of whom are arrayed as Defendants to the suit and by certain unknown

entities presently found as Ashok Kumar / Jon Doe.

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2 The Plaintiff has in the plaint set out that the Plaintiff is a renowned

Indian film actor, producer and public figure with a career in the Indian film

industry spanning over three decades. In Paragraph No. 21 of the plaint, the

Plaintiff has given a list of nearly 100 films in which he has acted and is

widely known for his performances in commercially successful and

critically acclaimed films such as " Balwaan", "Mohra", "Dilwale", and

"Border", Main Hoon Na and the film "Hera Pheri" in which the Plaintiff

played the iconic and popular character of " Shyam", a role which continues

to enjoy enduring public recognition, attention and goodwill.

3 The Plaintiff in Paragraph 22 of the Plaint set out the various awards

and honors received by the Plaintiff, including the Filmfare Award for Best

Villain for his performance in the film " Dhadkan" and the Best Supporting

Actor for the same film. The Plaintiff has also been the recipient of the

Stardust Award for Best Actor for the film "Red Alert" and the Global Indian

Film Award for the Best Negative Role for the film "Main Hoon Na". More

recently in 2023 the Plaintiff's relevance and style has been acknowledged

through awards such as the Lokmat Stylish Timeless Icon Award and the

IWM Digital Awards for his performances on OTT platforms, including

in "Dharavi Bank." It is basis this that the Plaintiff has contended that the

Plaintiff is well known and established film Actor and also a respected public

figure.

4 The plaint also sets out that given that the Plaintiff's immense public

standing and public image, the Plaintiff has been named as brand

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Ambassador for several reputed national and international brands, the

details of which are more particularly set out in paragraph 24 of the plaint.

Thus, the Plaintiff has also commercially benefited from his personality

rights and public standing.

5 The Plaint also set out the Plaintiff's huge following on social media.

For instance, the Plaintiff has over 5.4 million followers on Instagram; 6.5

million followers on Facebook; 1.2 million followers on X Corp and

approximately 9,96,043 followers on LinkedIn, which establishes that the

Plaintiff has a vast following on diverse social media platforms which

underscores the significant public recognition and extensive goodwill of the

Plaintiff. This vast digital footprint serves to demonstrate the continuing and

widespread public association with the Plaintiff, thereby reinforcing the

distinctiveness and exclusive association of his indicia, including his name

and persona, in the public mind.

6 Dr. Birendra Saraf, Learned Senior Counsel, appearing on behalf of

the Plaintiff highlighted the aforesaid and submitted that the personality of

the Plaintiff including his name, his signature, his image and his likeness, his

voice and tone, his distinctive performance and mannerisms and similar

other attributes have become uniquely associated with the Plaintiff. He

submits that the Plaintiff has a right to control and protect the exploitation of

his personality in addition to the commercially benefit and gain from the

same. Any use of the Plaintiff's personality identity or attributes of the

Plaintiff's personality without the Plaintiff's consent or authorization apart

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from being an infringement of the Plaintiff's personality rights is also a

violation of the Plaintiff's fundamental rights including the Plaintiff's right to

live with dignity and right to privacy. He thus submits that any violation or

infraction of these rights, is liable to be restrained.

7 Dr Saraf then pointed out details of various infringing activities,

which necessitated the filing of the present Suit, and are more particularly

set out in Paragraphs 43 to 70 (Exhibit "B"; "E"; "F" and "G") of the Plaint and

are essentially summarized as follows:

(a) Circulation of AI-generated images/deepfakes by Defendant No. 1 on

Defendant No. 3's platform (Meta), which depict the Plaintiff in an obscene

and salacious manner and/or falsely depict the Plaintiff's image and persona.

The details of infringing links are as follows:

i. https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?

story_fbid=pfbid02ymnHSQsFWnCQ9RaUAmuRHJCVxeps1Fw UTpy5r5TrrxEjjFRjSG4eVPvgRmFujhLBl&id=10007776085034 2

ii. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?

fbid=792134453388576&set=pcb.792134556721899

iii. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?

fbid=792118903390131&set=pcb.792119016723453

iv. https://www.facebook.com/photo?

fbid=792118940056794&set=pcb.792119016723453

v. https://www.facebook.com/61550929370262/posts/

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122267319200030979/?

mibextid=wwXIfr&rdid=DZy3PX6DUbFoOowc#

vi. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?

fbid=776823071586381&set=a.176550134947014

(b) Circulation of AI-generated images falsely depicting the Plaintiff and

his family members by Defendant No. 1 on Defendant No. 3's platform

(Meta). The details of infringing links are as follows:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHtqlaMM7mO/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DHum28poNtN/

https://www.facebook.com/share/1AzD1WQjRw/?mibextid=wwXIfr

https://www.facebook.com/story.php/?

story_fbid=673732091795318&id=100074756000666

(c) Unauthorized advertisements, promotions, and false endorsements

using the Plaintiff's indicia, including: (i) a gambling/sports-betting website

(Defendant No. 18) falsely proclaiming partnership and collaboration with

the Plaintiff (Infringing Link: https://bcgame.co.in/en/partnerships/; (ii) an

astrologer/numerology service (Defendant No. 2) running advertisements on

Defendant No. 3's platform (Instagram) using the Plaintiff's name and AI-

generated images without his consent or authorization

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; (iii) a verified social

media user offering services as a "real estate mindset coach" and purporting

to advise viewers on how to secure the Plaintiff as a client and sell him

property in Dubai (Infringing Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDq3-

RXT0op/; ); and (iv) Defendant No. 4 running an advertisement falsely

claiming that it will connect brands/businesses to the Plaintiff and secure

him as a brand ambassador for them (Infringing Link:

https://www.tring.co.in/celebrity-endorsements/suniel-shetty-brand-

ambassador-list?utm_source=chatgpt.com; ).

(d) Unauthorised manufacturing, promotion and sale of merchandise

bearing the Plaintiff's name, image, likeness and persona by Defendant Nos.

6, 13 and 15 on their own websites. The details of infringing links are as

follows:

https://www.iceposter.com/gty?search=suniel%20shetty;

https://www.paisawapas.com/p-suniel-shetty-beardo-poster-size-12-

inch-x-18-inch-pack-of-1-paper-print18-inch-x-8-inch-rolled-

10866925?utm_source=chatgpt.com;

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https://wallpapercave.com/suniel-shetty-wallpapers;

(e) Instances of users, on Defendant No. 3's (Meta Platforms) and

Defendant No. 19's (X Corp) platform, creating profiles that impersonate the

Plaintiff by making the public at large believe that these accounts belong to

the Plaintiff. The details of infringing links are as follows:

Sunil Shetty (@SunielShetty0) / X

https://x.com/SUNILSHETTY

https://x.com/sunilshetty4u

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sunil-Shetty/108616349160181?ref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/share/16CVD9U7nK/?mibextid=wwXIfr

https://www.facebook.com/share/1AtTksBgPy/?mibextid=wwXIfr

https://www.facebook.com/share/16BAX8AFPB/

https://www.facebook.com/share/1QtjT7w7nM/?mibextid=wwXIfr

8 Dr Saraf further submitted that, apart from the identifiable instances

of infringement, numerous entities are operating clandestinely without

publicly disclosing their particulars and/or identities. Consequently, while

the Defendants whose details are known to the Plaintiff are impleaded by

name, those whose identities are currently unknown or not publicly

available are impleaded collectively as "John Doe" (i.e. Defendant No. 1).

9 It is submitted that the aforesaid Defendants, being Defendant Nos. 1,

2, 4, 6, 13, 15, and 18, are engaged in the systematic misappropriation and

unauthorized exploitation of the Plaintiff's identity and particularly rights for

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their own commercial gain and personal benefit. He submitted that this

ongoing infringement not only unlawfully exploits and diverts the economic

value inherent in the Plaintiff's status but also poses a significant threat to the

Plaintiff's professional career and public standing. He submits that By

leveraging the Plaintiff's indicia including his name, likeness, and reputation,

the Defendants are able to generate substantial and quantifiable gains

through the accumulation of followers, engagement, and digital capital on

social media and other online platforms. Apart from that, the use of various

attributes of the Plaintiff's personality including creation of AI images/deep

fakes creating a false and obscene images of the Plaintiff is also a direct

infringement of Plaintiff's Right to Privacy and the Right to Live with Dignity

which is enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

10 Dr. Saraf has pointed out that the unauthorized appropriation of the

Plaintiff's personality attributes, including his image are likely to deceive the

public into a false belief of his association with and/or endorsement of

certain commercial ventures which given the Plaintiff's repute and standing,

the Plaintiff would never have been associated with. The public, acting upon

the trust and goodwill generated by the Plaintiff, may then transact with

these entities under a misrepresentation. He illustrated that by the specific

instance where the Plaintiff's association was used on a gambling website,

thereby creating a damaging and false impression of his endorsement of

such activities. Such misrepresentation also has the potential of harm to the

public at large.

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11 Dr. Saraf has then submitted that this Court as well as the Delhi High

Court have recognised and granted relief in case of violation of personality

rights. In support of his contention, he has placed reliance upon the

following decisions:

Asha Bhosle v. Mayk Inc , 2025 SCC OnLine Bom 3485 (Paragraph

Nos. 15 to Paragraph 18)

Arijit Singh v. Codible Ventures LLP and Ors., 2024 SCC OnLine Bom

2445 (Paragraph Nos.16, 17 and 18);

Anil Kapoor v. Simply Life India and Ors ., 2023 SCC OnLine Del 6914

(Paragraph Nos. 38,39,41 and 43);

Jaikishan Kakubhai Saraf alias Jackie Shroff v. Peppy Store and Ors. ,

2024 SCC OnLine Del 3664 (Paragraph No. 12);

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan v. Aishwaryaworld.Com and Ors. , 2025 SCC

OnLine Del 5943 (Paragraph Nos. 33.25, 34 to 39)

Karan Johar v. Ashok Kumar/John Doe , 2025 SCC OnLine Del 6108

(Paragraph Nos. 34,35,36 and 37);

12 Placing reliance on the above, Dr. Saraf submits that the Plaintiff is

entitled to protection of facets of his personality such as his name, image,

likeness, voice, and signature against unauthorized exploitation by third

parties. On the basis of the aforesaid submissions, Dr. Saraf has today pressed

for urgent interim reliefs on an ex-parte basis as per the reason set out in

Paragraph Nos. 100 to 104 of the Plaint. He further mentions that issuing

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notice to the Defendants would potentially precipitate the harm the present

application seeks to prevent as it would provide them with an opportunity to

inflict further harm and damage upon the Plaintiff's rights and reputation. In

such an event, the entire purpose of the present application would be

defeated.

13 Additionally, he emphasised that Rule 3(1) of the Information

Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules,

2021 requires social media intermediaries to exercise due diligence and

undertake reasonable efforts to ensure users do not host, display, modify,

publish, transmit, store, update, or share any information that is obscene,

deceives or misleads the addressee, or impersonates another person.

Therefore, Defendant Nos. 3 (Meta Platforms) and 19 (X Corp.) possess the

requisite authority to restrict circulation of the infringing content that

violates the Plaintiff's personality rights.

14 Having heard Dr. Saraf and having perused the material which has

been placed before me, I have no hesitation in holding that the same can best

be described as a lethal combination of a depraved mind and the misuse of

technology resultantly causing harm to the Plaintiff's personality rights. The

material that has been placed before me particularly the AI-generated/deep

fake and obscene images of not only the Plaintiff but also images depicting

the Plaintiff's family members. Additionally, the Plaintiff's image has been

used in conjunction with promoting activities with which the Plaintiff would

never associated or stand for and thereby effectively diluted the Plaintiff's

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personality rights in the eyes of unsuspected public. Given the gravity and

potential for irreversible harm and injury, this Court finds that the grant of

injunction would be defeated by the delay of issuing notice, and thus, the

present case warrants the immediate grant of ex-parte ad-interim reliefs.

15 From the statements made in the Plaint, it is apparent that the Plaintiff

is a prominent film actor, having featured in over 100 films and received

numerous prestigious awards for his performances. Owing to his significant

popularity, the Plaintiff has millions of followers on various social media

platforms and is engaged as a Brand Ambassador by several renowned

national and international brands. Thus, the Plaintiff has garnered

substantial goodwill and reputation, and the public at large reposes

significant faith in him, extending trust to the brands and commercial

ventures with which he is associated. The unauthorized creation/uploading

of deepfake images of the Plaintiff on social media platforms constitutes a

grave infringement not only of his personality rights but also of his right to

live with dignity. Equally, the unauthorized use of AI generated images of the

Plaintiff and his family members constitutes a blatant invasion of their

privacy and their fundamental rights. The personality rights of an individual

encompass the right to control, protect, and commercially exploit one's own

image, name, likeness, and other identifiable attributes. The unauthorized

exploitation of these attributes, while directly harming the Plaintiff's

commercial interests, right to privacy, and right to live with dignity, also

poses a significant risk of harm to the public. Public at large, relying upon

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the Plaintiff's established goodwill and reputation, may be misled into

placing their trust in and engaging with brands or commercial activities that

have wrongfully appropriated his persona. In the modern digital economy,

the aforesaid Defendants' actions constitute a deliberate conversion of the

Plaintiff's goodwill into an unearned commercial advantage. Such

unauthorized use creates a false sense of endorsement or affiliation,

misleading the public and amounting to classic passing off, misappropriation

of goodwill, and consumer deception.

16 In the present case, I have carefully considered the infringing material

brought to my notice and some of which are detailed hereinabove. This

infringing material discloses a clear infringement of the Plaintiff's rights and

warrants urgent protection. I am also in agreement with the submissions

made by Dr. Saraf that apart from the identifiable infringement there are

several entities, many of whom are difficult to identify and trace. Given the

clandestine and continuing nature of these activities and the ongoing harm,

the Plaintiff has correctly impleaded Defendant No. 1, "John Doe/Ashok

Kumar," to represent the entire class of such unknown persons whose

identities cannot be presently ascertained.

17 This Court is therefore of the view that the Plaintiff has made out a

strong case for the grant of ad interim relief. The balance of convenience is

also entirely in favour of the Plaintiff, and if the ad-interim reliefs are not

granted, the Plaintiff would suffer irreparable injury and harm.

18 In view of the aforesaid, I grant the Plaintiff ex parte interim relief

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against Defendant Nos. 1, 2, 4, 6, 13, 15, and 18 as follows:

(a) Pending the hearing and final disposal of the Interim Application, Defendant Nos. 1, 2, 4, 6, 13, 15 and 18, by themselves, their agents, servants, associates, and/or any person claiming through or under them, shall be restrained from violating the rights of the Plaintiff:

(i)By infringing and/or utilizing and/or misappropriating the Plaintiff's personality rights and/or moral rights in any manner, directly or indirectly using and/or exploiting and/or imitating any of the Plaintiff's indicia, namely: (a) the name "Suniel Shetty" and any abbreviation, moniker or variation thereof; (b) voice; (c) image; (d) likeness; (e) distinctive performance, appearance and mannerisms; and (f) signature and any other other uniquely identifiable attribute, including through Artificial Intelligence generated content, deepfake videos, voice cloned audio, edited or morphed visuals, metaverse environments and any future formats or mediums.

(ii) By passing off their goods, services, schemes, content, promotions or advertisements as emanating from, endorsed by or associated with the Plaintiff by use of any of his indicia namely: (a) the name "Suniel Shetty" and any abbreviation, moniker or variation thereof; (b) voice; (c) image; (d) likeness;

(e) distinctive performance, appearance and mannerisms; and

(f) signature and any other uniquely identifiable attribute.

(iii) By importing, manufacturing, warehousing, selling, offering for sale, advertising or otherwise dealing in any goods or services, including counterfeit merchandise or operating any schemes or content that exploit the Plaintiff's indicia namely: (a) the name "Suniel Shetty" and any abbreviation, moniker or variation thereof; (b) voice; (c) image; (d) likeness;

(e) distinctive performance, appearance and mannerisms; and

(f) signature and any other uniquely identifiable attribute.

(b) Pending the hearing and final disposal of the Interim Application, Defendant Nos. 1, 2, 4, 6, 13, 15 and 18, by themselves, their agents, servants, associates, and/or any person claiming through or under them, to forthwith remove, delete, take down, suspend and disable access to the Infringing Content (more particularly set out in paragraphs 43 to 70 of

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the Plaint) and/or content similar to or identical to the Infringing Content that misuses the Plaintiff's indicia namely: (a) the name "Suniel Shetty" and any abbreviation, moniker or variation thereof; (b) voice; (c) image;

(d) likeness; (e) distinctive performance, appearance and mannerisms;

and (f) signature and any other uniquely identifiable attribute on any medium and/or format including but not limited to the physical medium, virtual medium such as websites, social media, etc.

19 Insofar as Defendant Nos. 3 and 19 are concerned, I pass the

following order:

(i) Pending the hearing and final disposal of the Interim

Application, Defendant Nos. 3 and 19 are directed to take

down/remove/disable access to all listings/pages/content identified as

Infringing Content (more particularly set out in paragraphs 43 to 70

of the Plaint) and annexed at Exhibit "B", Exhibit "E", Exhibit "F"

Exhibit "G" thereto, which display, advertise, promote and/ or offer for

sale any goods or services bearing the Plaintiff's name, image,

photograph and likeness, within a period of one week from the date of

the receipt of this order.

(ii) Defendant Nos. 3 and 19 are further directed that in the event

the Plaintiff notifies them in writing of any further infringing

listings/pages/content of a similar nature appearing on their

platforms/websites which exploit the Plaintiff's name, image, likeness,

photograph or caricature without authorisation, they shall, similarly

take down/remove/disable access to such infringing

listings/pages/content, subject to their right to communicate to the

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Plaintiff, with reasons, any objection to such removal.

(iii) Defendant Nos. 3 and 19 shall, upon request and subject to any

restrictions furnish to the Plaintiff the basic subscriber/seller

information in their possession (including name, address, email ID,

contact number, IP logs, registration details and payment details) of

the sellers/uploaders of the infringing listings/content so notified, to

enable the Plaintiff to either implead them as parties to the present

proceedings or place their relevant details before the Court in those

instances where found necessary.

20 The Advocates for the Plaintiff shall serve notice of this Order on the

Defendants forthwith and file an Affidavit of Service on the next date.

21 Compliance of Order XXXIX Rule 3 of the CPC is permitted by email

considering the large number of Defendants, and the fact that for some of

the Defendants the contact details are not known to the Plaintiff. In so far as

those Defendants for whom postal addresses are available, the Plaintiff shall

in addition to service by email, do compliance by speed post service. The said

compliance shall be done within two weeks of this order being made

available.

22 Stand over to 17th November 2025.

[ARIF S. DOCTOR, J.]

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