Delhi High Court to pass order on September 17 on Karan Johar’s plea to protect personality rights

Film-maker and producer Karan Johar.
| Photo Credit: R. Ravindran
The Delhi High Court on Monday (September 15, 2025) said it would pass an order on September 17 on filmmaker and producer Karan Johar’s plea seeking protection of his personality and publicity rights.Justice Manmeet P.S. Arora said she would pass an order on several issues raised by Mr. Johar, including unauthorised sale of merchandise with his name and image, domain name, impersonation, use of fake profile and problems with obscenity.Mr. Johar also urged the court to pass an order directing certain websites and platforms not to illegally sell merchandise, including mugs and t-shirts, bearing his name and image.His suit claimed that various entities have been using his name, image, persona and likeness without his consent for monetary gains. “I have a right to ensure that no one unauthorisedly uses my persona, face or voice,” senior advocate Rajshekhar Rao, appearing for Mr. Johar, said.Recently, Bollywood actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her husband Abhishek Bachchan got their personality and publicity rights protected by orders of the court.The counsel for Meta Platforms (owners of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) submitted that many of the comments flagged in Mr. Johar’s suit were not defamatory. The counsel said passing a blanket ban will open floodgates for litigation.“These are ordinary people having comments and having discussions. Most of them are satire and jokes and not defamatory,” the counsel said. Published – September 15, 2025 11:51 am IST