The Delhi High Court has ordered the removal of obscene and pornographic content targeting Bollywood actor Janhvi Kapoor from over 5,000 webpages and social media posts. However, the court firmly rejected her request for a blanket ban on fan pages, questioning whether a public figure would want to eliminate all fan engagement online.
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani heard the case on Tuesday and passed an interim order directing the takedown of clearly offensive material, including AI-generated deepfakes, impersonation accounts, and content commercially exploiting the actor’s name and image.
Court Grants Relief in Three Categories
The court indicated it would provide protection to Janhvi Kapoor in three specific areas. First, content that is clearly pornographic or obscene. Second, material that appears to directly monetise her personality rights. Third, content using her name or likeness to promote the sale of merchandise or services.
Justice Bhambhani asked Kapoor’s legal team to submit a detailed list identifying webpages carrying “ex facie pornographic, obscene, prurient, lascivious” material.The court made it clear that it was ready to act on this narrower category of content.
“I am inclined to give you relief in these categories,” the judge stated.
‘You Don’t Want Fans?’ – Court Rejects Blanket Ban
Where the court drew a hard line was on fan culture itself. Justice Bhambhani flatly rejected the idea of shutting down all fan pages, framing it as a free speech issue rather than a personality rights matter.
“We are not the conscience keepers of the nation. Solution may be worse than the problem. It was at the very root of free speech.”
The judge pointed out that fan pages serve different purposes. Some praise a celebrity’s work, others criticise it, and some use satire. He asked Kapoor’s legal team a blunt question.
“Fan pages may be lampooning, adulatory of your work, critical of your work. You don’t want fans? It is the digital world. No comments, no URLs…You will find yourself living in a cave.”
The court also questioned how a public figure could seek to remove every fan club or unofficial page that uses their name.
“They should just be genuflecting in front of you? Stand and touch my feet? How can you shut down all fan clubs? You are a public personality. Who is immune these days? Everyone who is in public domain is being abused left, right and centre.”
No Dynamic Injunction Granted
Kapoor’s legal team had also pushed for a dynamic injunction. This legal tool would allow new infringing links to get blocked automatically without repeated trips back to court. The judge refused to grant this request.
Justice Bhambhani questioned whether public figures could realistically expect that level of control over how the internet talks about them.He noted that virtually everyone with any public profile today faces some degree of online abuse. Shutting down every fan club, in his view, was not a workable remedy.
The Copyright and Personality Rights Question
The hearing also touched on the complicated relationship between copyright and personality rights. Justice Bhambhani raised a hypothetical question to make his point. If someone photographs a celebrity and legally owns that photograph, does that person not have the right to sell it?
He extended the analogy further. Should a potter who paints someone’s likeness onto a mug, or an author who writes a book referencing a public figure, lose the right to sell their work?
“I have a photo and I have a right to sell it, how is it monetising you? Somebody writes a book so he cant sell it? Right to sell a copyrighted work is the copyright owners right.”
The court suggested that the right to sell a copyrighted work generally belongs to whoever owns the copyright, meaning the photographer or creator, not necessarily the person depicted.
Meta Raises Concerns About Takedown Request
Meta’s lawyer, Varun Pathak, appeared in court and raised concerns about Janhvi Kapoor’s request to remove thousands of links. He argued that asking a platform to manually examine and verify such a large number of webpages would create an extremely difficult burden.
Pathak also pointed out that creating AI-generated images is not automatically illegal. He argued that people creating such content can have legitimate reasons to earn from their work.
The court, however, warned Meta against taking a position that could make it appear to have a deeper interest in the matter.
Khushi Kapoor Also Gets Relief
The day after Janhvi Kapoor received relief, her sister Khushi Kapoor also approached the Delhi High Court with a similar plea. Justice Jyoti Singh passed directions ordering the removal of obscene and pornographic content targeting Khushi Kapoor from social media platforms.
The court indicated it would pass a John Doe order in her favour. This order would provide protection against unidentified persons involved in the unauthorised use or exploitation of her identity.The HC also directed the takedown of content linked to the unauthorised sale of merchandise using her personality.
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What the Court Order Means
The Delhi High Court’s order gives Janhvi Kapoor limited protection against obscene and pornographic content circulating online.However, the court refused to pass a blanket order against fan pages and other unauthorised content using her name or image.
The court asked Kapoor’s legal team to be more specific about the material for which they wanted immediate action. The lawyers were directed to prepare a detailed table listing webpages that contain clearly pornographic, obscene or lascivious content.
Justice Bhambhani also stressed the need to strike a balance between protecting a public figure’s personality rights and allowing legitimate criticism and expression.
“How do we draw the line? In law, we can only do so much and no more. To completely restrain everything cannot be the approach.”
He added that the court could intervene where there was obscenity, monetisation or “extremely egregious or inappropriate content”, but questioned the need to shut down all fan clubs.
The judge also cautioned against the broader use of personality-rights claims.
“Today many people are trying to hide their wrongdoings by saying celebrity or personality rights. How can court allow that?”
The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for August 17. The court is yet to upload the formal order on the matter.
Also Read: Delhi High Court Orders Removal of AI-Generated Obscene Content Targeting Actress Tabu
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