Delhi HC Orders Takedown of AAP’s AI-Generated Videos Depicting CM Rekha Gupta as Liquor Vendor [Read Order]

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed the takedown of six URLs carrying AI-generated videos and posts, published from the official accounts of the Aam Aadmi Party on X and Facebook, that depict Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta as a liquor vendor. The court found a prima facie case in her favour in a defamation suit.

Justice Manoj Jain passed the order on 06.11.2026 in CS(OS) 1019/2026, in which the Chief Minister seeks a permanent injunction against publishing and circulating defamatory and AI-generated deepfake content, along with damages. Summons were issued to all defendants, with written statements due within thirty days of receipt and a replication within thirty days thereafter, each with affidavits of admission or denial of documents. No one appeared for the defendants despite advance service by email on the morning of the hearing.

The court also disposed of several applications. The plaintiff was given one week to make up the deficiency in court fee, and was allowed to place videographic evidence on record through a pen drive or compact disc. She was exempted from serving the two-month prior notice on the Government of India, given the urgency, and from providing the hash value of electronic evidence, subject to just exceptions.

On the interim application, the plaintiff argued that the material shows her serving drinks to men at night amid a brawl, and as head of a non-existent “Har Har Rekha or Ghar Ghar Theka” Yojana, when no home delivery of liquor exists. She submitted that this goes beyond harmless satire, relying on Raghav Chadha v. Ashok Kumar John Doe and other rulings. One video, posted on X on 04.11.2026, had about 75,000 views at the time of the screenshot, and another allegedly includes a deepfake of both the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister.

The court acknowledged that political leaders should have broad shoulders for humour and satire, and that parties may criticise government policy, but held that “the dignity of any individual cannot be compromised.” It observed that satire cannot be allowed to inflict irreparable harm on dignity, that there is always a thin line between satire and offensive depiction, and that responsibility for AI-generated content lies with the human who creates and publishes it.

The court held that the portrayal, made with AI-generated videos, could by no stretch of imagination be called permissible political satire, and that the posts attack the dignity of a woman holding constitutional authority. Without reproducing the content, it held that a prima facie case and balance of convenience lay with the plaintiff, particularly as such content travels at lightning speed on social media.

While issuing notice to the defendants, the court directed defendants No. 3, 4 and 5 to take down the listed URLs forthwith, five on X and one on Facebook, all posted by defendant No. 1. It ordered compliance with Order XXXIX Rule 3 CPC, allowed a copy of the order to be given dasti, and listed the matter on 04.12.2026.

Case Title: Smt. Rekha Gupta vs. Aam Aadmi Party & Ors., CS(OS) 1019/2026 (I.A. 31139-31145/2026)

[Read Order]