After Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Karan Johar moves Delhi HC seeking protection of his personality rights

Karan Johar has filed a petition in the Delhi High Court to safeguard his personality rights, citing concerns over the unauthorized use of his name for fundraising, a practice that has previously led to legal action by Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan.

In a hearing today, Karan Johar's legal counsel, Senior Advocate Rajshekhar Rao, presented the filmmaker's case before the Delhi High Court. Rao asserted that Johar's name was being exploited for fundraising purposes without his authorization. This central allegation underscores Johar's petition, which seeks to address the potential reputational and financial harm stemming from the unauthorized use of his identity. The court was provided with details of specific instances where Johar's name and persona have been used without his consent, forming the basis of his plea for protection of his personality rights.

"These are websites where my photos are downloaded. Various pages on various [social media] platforms are in my name," he said.

Senior Advocate Rajshekhar Rao presented Karan Johar's petition to the Delhi High Court, detailing the alleged misuse of the filmmaker's name. The legal arguments underscored the urgency of judicial intervention to prevent further unauthorized use of Johar's personality rights, particularly in fundraising activities.

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, contested the defamation claims in court. Advocate Varun Pathak, representing Meta, argued that many of the comments cited in Johar's lawsuit do not constitute defamation. Pathak also cautioned that a broad injunction could lead to a surge in legal actions.

"These are ordinary people having comments and having discussions. Now to drag them to Court for making an ordinary joke," he said.

Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora agreed with this perspective, stating that not all fan pages could be subject to a mandatory block or removal order.

“Mr Rao, you have to look at two things, one is disparagement, which is different from memes. Memes are not necessarily disparaging. Then somebody is selling merchandise. Third is your domain name. Please specifically identify it, and the Court will consider it. I think Mr Pathak is right, it cannot be every fan page. We cannot have an open-ended injunction,” Justice Arora said.

In response, Rao asserted that Johar should have the right to control and determine the existence of any official fan pages.

The Delhi High Court has reserved its judgment on Karan Johar's petition. The case highlights the judiciary's increasing involvement in complex issues surrounding personality rights and the unauthorized commercial use of celebrity names.

Following the arguments, the Court suggested it might order the removal of specific pages. Furthermore, it indicated that if similar pages appear in the future, Johar could report them to the social media platform for potential action. The final hearing is scheduled for 4 pm today.