Abhishek Sharma Moves Delhi High Court Seeking Protection Of Personality Rights
The cricketer alleged that an AI-generated image violated his personality rights. The HC partly heard his petition; the next hearing is scheduled for July 9.
Published : July 7, 2026 at 1:52 PM IST
New Delhi: Indian cricketer Abhishek Sharma has moved the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality rights against the unauthorised use of his identity.
A single-judge bench of Justice Jyoti Singh on Tuesday heard the matter partly, and posted it for further hearing on July 9.
During the hearing, counsel Varun Pathak, appearing for Meta, submitted that the petition referred to eight URLs, but two of them were inaccessible. He further argued that one of the URLs contained a paparazzi-style photograph, which did not amount to a violation of personality rights.
Appearing for Abhishek Sharma, his counsel contended that the image in question was AI-generated, thereby constituting an unauthorised use of the cricketer's identity.
During the proceedings, the court observed that it regularly addresses such issues and noted a "thin line" between defamation and personality rights. The court remarked that even in defamation cases, personality rights can be infringed.
Responding to the court's observations, Meta's counsel said that if someone makes a false and unacceptable statement, it would fall into a different legal category.
While examining the petition, the High Court noted that although a list of the disputed web links had been filed, the petitioner had not annexed screenshots of those URLs. The court directed Abhishek Sharma's counsel to file an additional affidavit along with screenshots of the disputed links before the next hearing.
The matter will now be taken up on July 9.
The Delhi High Court has, in the past, granted protection of personality rights to several public figures, restraining the unauthorised commercial or misleading use of their names, images, voices or other identifying attributes.
Among those who have secured similar protection are actor and MP Ravi Kishan, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, actors Arjun Kapoor, Allu Arjun, Mohanlal, Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Kajol, Vivek Oberoi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir, yoga guru Baba Ramdev, Acharya Balkrishna, actress Sonakshi Sinha, journalist Sudhir Chaudhary, spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, storyteller Aniruddhacharya, actress and MP Jaya Bachchan, actor Nagarjuna and filmmaker Karan Johar.
Also Read:
