Actor Kajol has become the latest Bollywood celebrity to move court for the protection of her personality rights. The Delhi High Court has passed an interim order in her favour, prohibiting the unauthorised use of her name, image, voice, or likeness for commercial purposes.
As per updates from ANI, Justice Jyoti Singh directed that no individual or entity may exploit Kajol’s identity — including selling merchandise or creating digital content — without her consent. The order further extends to misuse through artificial intelligence and deepfake technologies, explicitly restraining the creation or circulation of fake videos or images using her likeness. The court also ordered the removal of any obscene or inappropriate content featuring her that may have been published online.
Growing concern among celebrities
Kajol joins a growing list of public figures who have sought legal protection of their identity amid rising misuse of celebrity images and deepfake content. In recent months, stars such as Vivek Oberoi, Salman Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, Karan Johar, Rishab Shetty, Jaya Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, and Akkineni Nagarjuna have approached courts with similar pleas.
The Bombay High Court recently passed comparable orders for several members of the Bachchan family and other industry figures, reinforcing stronger safeguards against the commercial exploitation of celebrity identities without permission.
Meanwhile, singer Jubin Nautiyal also filed a plea in the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality rights. The court, however, questioned why the Uttarakhand-based artist had not approached a local court in his state. His counsel argued that the Delhi High Court was approached since key authorities such as the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) are headquartered in the national capital. An order has yet to be issued in the case.
Understanding personality rights
Personality rights refer to an individual’s legal entitlement to control how their identity is used in public and commercial contexts. These rights protect attributes uniquely linked to a person, including their name, image, likeness, voice, signature, and even trademark catchphrases from being exploited without consent.
They are broadly divided into two components: the Right of Publicity and the Right to Privacy. The former safeguards against unauthorised commercial exploitation, such as the use of a celebrity’s face in advertisements or merchandise, while the latter guards against invasions of personal dignity, including misuse through deepfakes, morphed images, or fabricated endorsements.
Kajol’s recent work
On the professional front, Kajol was last seen in Sarzameen (2025) alongside Prithviraj Sukumaran and Ibrahim Ali Khan. Before that, she appeared in Maa, which was released in theatres on June 27, 2025.
