The Delhi High Court has officially safeguarded the personality rights of spiritual leader Aniruddhacharya, widely recognised as 'Pookie' Baba, by prohibiting the unlicensed utilisation of his identity, vocal likeness, and visual appearance in memes, videos, or digital media, including AI-generated deepfakes.
Justice Tushar Rao Gedela issued this preliminary injunction on 30 March following a petition filed by Aniruddhacharya.
Furthermore, the judiciary instructed major social media platforms, including Meta, X and Google, to remove the infringing materials flagged by the petitioner that illicitly exploited or mimicked his public persona. The bench observed that a compelling prima facie case existed for the plaintiff, describing him as a prominent and broadly respected public figure.
The court noted that the disputed content exceeded "mere parody" and appeared both defamatory and a violation of his inherent personality rights. It further remarked that the potential for significant reputational harm and damage to the plaintiff's public image was palpable and immediate.
Aniruddhacharya contended that various parties were exploiting his personal attributes without permission or legal license, driven by the motive of securing illicit financial profit by leveraging his extensive goodwill and commercial standing. His legal team argued that fraudulent and manipulated content was being spread to erroneously imply his endorsement of deceptive ventures or substandard products.
Additionally, the counsel emphasised that the intentional warping of his spiritual teachings in these online posts eroded his credibility among followers and risked further deceiving the general public. Various high-profile individuals, including actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, and Salman Khan, as well as spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, journalist Sudhir Chaudhary, and creator Raj Shamani, have previously sought similar judicial protection for their publicity rights. The court consistently provided them with interim stay orders.
Most recently, the judiciary extended similar protections to the personality rights of former cricketer Gautam Gambhir and actors Sonakshi Sinha and Vivek Oberoi through successful interim legal petitions.
Last month, actor Manoj Bajpayee said that any use of an artist's work or identity should come with proper "payment" and respect for their years of effort.
The 'Family Man' actor also said that actors build their credibility over time, and if someone uses anything related to them, they must be paid for it.
"Agar humari cheez use karenge, toh paise humko denge. Humse judi koi bhi cheez agar aap upyog karenge, toh uska moolya toh aapko dena padega. Kyunki main as an actor 32 saal se kaam kar raha hoon, toh zaahir si baat hai ki aap apni credibility khud banate ho, aur uska agar koi upyog karega, toh ek tarah se rights ke hisaab se paisa dena padega." (If someone uses our work, they must pay us. If anything related to us is used, they will have to pay for it. I have been working as an actor for 32 years, so you build your own credibility, and if someone uses it, they must pay for it as a right), Bajpayee commented.