BJP MP Raghav Chadha Moves Delhi High Court Seeking Protection of Personality Rights

New Delhi: BJP Member of Parliament Raghav Chadha has filed a suit in the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality rights in the matter titled Raghav Chadha v. Ashok Kumar John Doe & Ors. The matter is listed for hearing before Justice Subramonium Prasad. Chadha is represented by Advocates Satatya Anand and Nikhil Aradhe.

The suit seeks a John Doe order against unknown entities, in addition to various named defendants, restraining them from exploiting the plaintiff’s personal traits, including his photographs, without his consent.

The suit is the latest in a series of personality rights proceedings before the Delhi High Court, which has developed a substantial body of jurisprudence protecting the identity, image, and likeness of public figures from unauthorised commercial exploitation and misuse. The Court has previously granted protection to political figures, including Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, as well as entrepreneur Aman Gupta; actors Allu Arjun, Mohanlal, Kajol Devgan, R. Madhavan, and Jr NTR; singer Jubin Nautiyal; former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar; and spiritual preacher Aniruddhacharya.

Coordinate Benches of the Court have also passed orders protecting the personality rights of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of The Art of Living Foundation; actors Nagarjuna, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Abhishek Bachchan; and film producer Karan Johar. The Court has additionally passed orders protecting journalist Sudhir Chaudhary in connection with the circulation of allegedly misleading and AI-generated videos against him on social media, and podcaster Raj Shamani, whom the Court described as a known face in India, particularly in the field of content creation. A similar suit has also been filed by actor Salman Khan.

Case Details: Raghav Chadha v. Ashok Kumar John Doe & Ors., Delhi High Court; before Justice Subramonium Prasad. Advocates Satatya Anand and Nikhil Aradhe appeared for the plaintiff.