Delhi High Court Directs Sonakshi Sinha To File List Of Infringing URLs In Personality Rights Suit

The Delhi High Court on Friday directed actor Sonakshi Sinha to file a clear, defendant-wise table of infringing URLs in her suit seeking protection of her personality rights against alleged misuse by AI-based platforms after finding a lack of clarity in the material placed on record.

During the hearing, Justice Jyoti Singh expressed concern over websites that allow users to generate chatbots using the actor's likeness, but cautioned that the court would grant only legally recognised reliefs, observing, “Prayer can ask for the moon, but I'm not going to grant it. I will grant what has been granted by this court from time to time.”

The suit has been filed on behalf of the Bollywood actor, described by her counsel as “a well-known Indian actress in Hindi cinema” who has appeared in films such as Dabangg and Lootera for the protection of her personality rights.

Counsel submitted that the main grievance is against website operators (Defendants 1 and 2) who provide tools enabling users to create AI-generated chatbots that can present themselves as real persons.

Explaining the alleged risk, counsel told the court that a user could create a chatbot using the plaintiff's image and voice and make it appear as if the actor herself were interacting with users.

At this stage, the Court noted that the pleadings did not clearly identify the offending links. “What links are you wanting to be taken down? I don't find any clarity on your claim,” Justice Singh remarked.

When informed that the URLs were mentioned in an annexure, the court directed the plaintiff to present them in a structured format, stating, “Frankly, in a soft copy, just give me a table… Defendant-wise, URLs?” The court accordingly directed that a clear, categorised table be filed.

The court also heard an intermediary representing a domain name registrar (Defendant 18), who submitted that its technical role is limited to blocking or suspending domain names.

Taking note of this, the Court clarified that any direction would remain within those limits, observing, “That's all that I'm directing.”

Considering the sensitive nature of the allegedly infringing material, the Court allowed the plaintiff to place certain documents in a sealed cover. Justice Singh directed the counsel to properly reseal the envelope and submit it to the court master, while allowing two days' time to file the confidential material.

The matter has been listed before the Joint Registrar on April 10, while the interim application will be taken up by the court on May 11.