Delhi High Court Bars Fake Medical Videos Using Dr Devi Shetty's Persona, Flags Public Health Risk
The Delhi High Court has permanently restrained social media pages and YouTube channels from using cardiac surgeon Dr Devi Prasad Shetty's identity to promote false medical claims, observing that such videos could harm not just his reputation but also members of the public who might act on the claims.
Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav also restrained them from using the registered marks of Narayana Hrudayalaya Ltd., the hospital chain Dr Shetty founded.
The Court said the misuse "is not confined to the commercial appropriation of the persona of a well-known individual" because the videos attributed to a heart surgeon cure what he never claimed.
Dr Shetty is the founding chairman of Narayana Hrudayalaya, which runs hospitals, heart centres and primary care facilities across India. He and the company sued after finding videos on Facebook and YouTube that used his face and voice to promote medicines and health advice.
One Facebook page posted a video, styled as a news telecast, showing him promoting a drug to cure Type II diabetes. Another showed him as having formulated a blood pressure drug. A third showed him promoting an alternative hypertension treatment, with the hospital's registered "N-1" device mark on screen.
Five YouTube channels uploaded Bengali and Hindi videos giving health advice in his name, some made by taking clips from his earlier public interviews and adding a new voice-over. One channel used the "N-1" mark, and another used "Narayana Health" as a hashtag.
Dr Shetty and the company argued that the content infringed his personality and publicity rights and the hospital's trademarks. They also said it endangered public health, since it promoted purported medicines in the name of a cardiac surgeon.
In 2024, while issuing summons, the Court granted an ex parte ad interim injunction.
It restrained the creators of the content from misusing Dr Shetty's persona or the hospital's marks. It also directed Meta Platforms and Google LLC to take down the content and disclose the details of the account holders.
When the suit came up for final disposal, the Court recorded that the interim directions had been complied with.
Relying on Anil Kapoor v. Simply Life India, the Court reiterated that this Court has "consistently" protected the personality and publicity rights of well-known individuals, particularly against misuse through artificial intelligence and deepfakes.
It then pointed to what set this case apart: "More significantly, the misuse in the present case is not confined to the commercial appropriation of the persona of a well-known individual. The impugned content attributes to a cardiac surgeon claims of cures for diabetes, hypertension and other cardiac ailments which he never made. The resultant harm, therefore, does not stop at the reputation of plaintiff no.1, but extends to members of the public who may act upon such content, as is evident from the email dated 08.11.2024 placed on record."
The Court also agreed to the request for a continuing right to seek takedowns of similar content.
"Bearing in mind that content of this nature can be generated and re-uploaded with little effort and under fresh identities, there does not seem to be any difficulty in accepting the said prayer," it said, following the same liberty granted in Rajat Sharma's case.
It declined to declare the hospital's marks well-known, saying that would require examining the Section 11(6) factors, which had not been done. That prayer was left open for the future.
The Court made the interim order of 28.11.2024 absolute and decreed the suit.
For Dr Devi Prasad Shetty: Advocates Sidharth Chopra, Shilpa Gupta, Deepika Pokharia and Naman Tandon
For Meta Platforms: Advocates Varun Pathak and Prasidhi Agrawal