Karan Johar Seeks Legal Shield for His Persona Amid Online Misuse
(By: Syed Ali Taher Abedi)
Delhi September,15,2025-Filmmaker and television personality Karan Johar has approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality rights, following recent similar legal actions by Bollywood stars Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan. Senior Advocate Rajshekhar Rao appeared for Johar, presenting a petition that raised concerns over the unauthorized use of Johar’s name and images on various websites and social media platforms to raise funds without consent.
During the hearing, Rao highlighted that numerous websites and pages were misusing Johar’s photos and identity, stating, “These are websites where my photos are downloaded. Various pages on various platforms are in my name.” The petitioner emphasized the need to safeguard his personality rights, especially against unauthorized fundraising and commercial exploitation.
Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, submitted before the court that many of the comments flagged in Johar’s suit were not defamatory and argued against a blanket injunction. Meta’s counsel warned that ordering sweeping takedowns could open the floodgates to numerous litigations, pointing out that ordinary online users making jokes or sharing memes should not be targeted by the court.
Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora concurred with this view, asserting that not every fan page could be ordered blocked or removed. He differentiated between disparaging content, memes, merchandise sales, and misuse of domain names. Stressing the need for specifics, the court asked Johar’s counsel to identify particular infringements to consider targeted takedown orders. The judge remarked, “You have to look at two things, one is disparagement, which is different from memes. Memes are not necessarily disparaging. Then somebody is selling merchandise. Third is your domain name. Please specifically identify it.”
While Rao contended that Johar has the right to control how many fan pages exist in his name and to protect his persona from unauthorized use, the court indicated it might pass takedown orders against specific offending pages. Justice Arora also advised Johar that if he encounters further violations in the future, he should first notify social media platforms to take action and only approach the court if those platforms fail to comply.
This legal move by Karan Johar comes amidst growing recognition in India of the importance of personality rights, particularly in the age of social media, where unauthorized use of celebrity images, memes, and AI-generated content pose reputational and commercial risks. Recently, the Delhi High Court granted similar protections to Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan, barring unauthorized use of their names, images, and likeness for commercial purposes, including merchandise sales and deepfake content.
The petition is filed through Advocates Parag Khandhar and Chandrima Mitra of Desk Legal
The court reserved further hearing of the matter, indicating ongoing judicial scrutiny of how personality rights can be effectively protected while balancing freedom of expression in digital spaces.
Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora said that she will pass orders on the interim relief application on September 17.
