The Delhi High Court on Thursday expressed prima facie reservations over a plea by Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha alleging violation of his personality rights through AI-generated deepfakes, manipulated videos and allegedly defamatory social media posts targeting him over his political shift from the Aam Aadmi Party to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The court observed that the case appeared, at least at first glance, to concern criticism of a political leader’s actions rather than infringement of personality rights, underscoring the “quite thin” line between political criticism and defamation.
The remarks come amid increasing legal scrutiny of AI-generated content and its impact on the reputation of public figures.
Justice Amit Bansal said the material placed before the court did not, prima facie, disclose a violation of personality rights. “A decision taken by you in the political arena is being criticised,” the judge observed during the hearing.
Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayar, appearing for Mr. Chadha, argued that the online content had crossed the threshold from political criticism into defamation. He submitted that some posts falsely suggested that the MP had “sold himself for money”.
The court, however, questioned whether the grievance could be addressed within the framework of personality rights jurisprudence.
“As a political leader, can you be sensitive…” Justice Bansal remarked, while drawing a distinction between “commercialising personality rights and criticism”.
The court referred to an earlier ruling involving Shashi Tharoor, in which protection was granted to the Congress leader’s personality rights because of his distinctive speech and public persona.
It further observed that while the right to reputation and dignity warranted protection, the constitutional guarantee of free speech under Article 19 could not be curtailed lightly.
After Mr. Nayar sought interim relief against the allegedly defamatory content, the court directed that the plaint be registered as a suit and reserved its order on the interim plea.