Delhi HC reserves order in Raghav Chadha case, says "Line between defamation and criticism is thin"

The Delhi High Court on Thursday reserved orders on the interim relief sought by Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha in his suit alleging misuse of his personality rights through AIgenerated deepfakes morphed visuals and manipulated social media contentThe matter was heard by Justice Subramonium Prasad who orally observed during the hearing that the content placed before the Court appeared prima facie to be a criticism of a political decision rather than a straightforward case of personality rights violationThe Bench further noted that political leaders have historically been subjected to satire cartoons and criticism in public lifeFrom independence we are seeing RK Laxman cartoons At that point of time probably social media had not gone to that extent today it has Justice Prasad observedSenior Advocate Rajiv Nayar appearing for Chadha argued that several posts circulating online were not merely political criticism but defamatory and profane attacks portraying the MP as someone who had switched political sides for monetary gainHe is shown in a saree We are seeing PM distributing showering money Nayar submitted while referring to certain images and posts placed before the CourtThe Bench however repeatedly questioned whether criticism directed at a political leaders public conduct or political choices could be restrained under the framework of personality rightsNayar also submitted that the matter also involved defamation and reputational injury They are saying I have gone for money This cant be fair criticism he arguedAt one stage Justice Prasad indicated that the Court may appoint an amicus curiae to assist on the broader legal questions arising from the matter particularly the balance between free speech and protection of dignity in the age of artificial intelligence and social mediaThere are cases and cases The line between defamation and criticism is quite thin Its very easy to see it from the other side which affects your right to live with dignity At the same time Article 19 right cant be taken away the Bench observedCounsel appearing for Meta submitted that several screenshots relied upon by Chadha were merely newspaper reports and otherwise benign material After hearing arguments the Bench reserved orders on the application seeking interim reliefChadha has approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection against alleged misuse of his image likeness voice and identity through artificial intelligence and digitally manipulated material being circulated onlineIn his plea he sought directions restraining the creation and dissemination of AIgenerated deepfakes morphed videos synthetic voice clones fabricated speeches and other allegedly deceptive content on social media platformsThe petition states that unauthorised use of his persona through AI tools is capable of misleading the public and damaging his reputationChadha earlier served as MLA from Delhis Rajinder Nagar constituency between 2020 and 2022 After being associated with the Aam Aadmi Party for several years he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in April 2026The matter forms part of a growing line of cases before the Delhi High Court concerning personality and publicity rights in the era of artificial intelligence Public figures including Anil Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan have previously secured protection against unauthorised use of their voices likenesses and identities through AIgenerated contentThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever