Now Reading: Delhi HC questions scope of personality rights in Aaradhya Bachchan case
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Delhi HC questions scope of personality rights in Aaradhya Bachchan case
Delhi HC questions scope of personality rights in Aaradhya Bachchan case
The Delhi High Court has questioned whether the concept of personality rights is 'acquiring amoebic proportions' while hearing a case filed on behalf of 14-year-old Aaradhya Bachchan by her father Abhishek Bachchan…
The Story in Brief
The Delhi High Court has questioned whether the concept of personality rights is 'acquiring amoebic proportions' while hearing a case filed on behalf of 14-year-old Aaradhya Bachchan by her father Abhishek Bachchan in 2023. Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani asked how far down generations a family name's reputation extends, and whether fake news amounts to an intellectual property violation.
The lawsuit targets YouTube channels and unnamed defendants for publishing false claims that Aaradhya was seriously ill, hospitalised or deceased. In February 2025, the court issued notices to platforms circulating morphed images of the girl surrounded by wreaths. The judge also questioned whether defamation can be conflated with intellectual property rights.
The Indian Opinion
The Delhi High Court has rightly flagged a slippery slope. Celebrities from Amitabh Bachchan to Alakh Pandey are rushing to claim personality rights, but the law is meant to protect distinct commercial value, not every family slight. Justice Bhambhani's question, 'Whose personality rights?', exposes the risk of turning every defamatory YouTube video into an IP lawsuit. Watch how this court resolves the fundamental conflict: can a child who has never worked own a personality right at all? That answer will set the precedent.
Source: medianama.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
