Delhi High Court To Pass Orders In Personality Rights Suit Filed By Actor Naga Chaitanya

The Delhi High Court on Thursday indicated that it is likely to pass orders in a personality rights suit filed by Telugu actor Akkineni Naga Chaitanya.

The actor has sought protection against a range of alleged online violations, including pornographic websites using his name, unauthorized merchandise, AI-generated content featuring him and his former spouse, and YouTube videos he claims infringe his personality rights.

The matter came up before Justice Jyoti Singh. During the hearing, the court issued summons to alleged infringers in the suit.

The actor submitted that his name was being used in search-linked pornographic content. According to counsel, several URLs combined his name with explicit search terms.

Counsel also pointed to merchandise listings on IndiaMart and Nextprint that allegedly featured the actor's image without authorisation. He further referred to AI-generated YouTube content showing the actor with his former spouse and YouTube videos described as "false and defamatory".

Counsel emphasized that the case was not a defamation action. He submitted that it was a suit to protect the actor's personality rights.

"This is a suit for personality rights," counsel said. He added that the content in question amounted to trolling rather than fair criticism.

"That is not fair criticism, which I would have otherwise perhaps seen in a different genre," he submitted.

Justice Singh engaged with the submissions and drew distinctions between the various categories of content. While discussing videos concerning the actor's divorce, the court observed that matters relating to celebrities' personal lives often enter the public domain.

At the same time, the court cautioned that such commentary must have limits. "You are in public life. You are certainly more vulnerable than the rest of the people. But it must have its limitations," the court remarked.

Appearing in the matter, counsel associated with IndiaMart submitted that the platform had the ability to take down the impugned listings. The court directed that the listings be removed.

Counsel also pointed to Nextprint. He submitted that the website was printing and selling T-shirts bearing the actor's image on its own platform as well as through IndiaMart.

The actor's counsel further submitted that the pornographic content was dynamic in nature. He said fresh URLs could continue to emerge even after existing links were removed.

Counsel therefore sought protection against the continuing misuse of the actor's name online.

With respect to two pornographic websites that allegedly did not display contact details, counsel sought exemption from filing proof of service. He informed the court that emails sent to the available addresses had bounced back.

Google and YouTube were arrayed as defendant number eight in the suit. The court directed defendant number eight to file written submissions along with a compliance affidavit within four weeks.

Summons were issued to the remaining defendants. The court exempted the actor from filing proof of service on certain pornographic websites at this stage.

The matter has been listed before the Joint Registrar on July 27, 2026. The interim applications will be taken up by the court on September 30, 2026.

For Actor: Mr. Vaibhav Gaggar, Senior Advocate and briefed by Mr. Somdev Tiwari, Mr. Akash Deep Gupta, and Mr. Siddharth C., Abhishek Nair, Vansh Shrivastav, Advocates, on behalf of Sarvoday Legal