Karan Johar has moved the Delhi High Court seeking his personality rights, alleging misuse of his name and image online, a plea for further hearing.
After Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan secured protection of their personality rights from the Delhi High Court, filmmaker Karan Johar has now approached the court on a similar plea. The case was heard on Monday, Bar & Bench reported.
Senior advocate Rajshekhar Rao, representing Johar, alleged that the director’s name and photos are being misused online, including for fundraising. “These are websites where my photos are being uploaded. There are various pages in my name on various social media platforms,” Johar’s foundation said.
However, meta platforms disputed that many of the comments in question were not defamatory. Advocate Varun Pathak argued that banning such content could lead to an endless series of lawsuits. “These are ordinary people who are commenting and discussing. Dragging them to court for making ordinary jokes is not justified,” Pathak said.
Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora also weighed in, noting, “There is a difference between contempt and memes. Memes are not necessarily contemptible. If someone is selling merchandise or using a domain name, that is a different matter. But we cannot grant a free-use injunction against every fan page.”
Rao, however, maintained Johar’s right to control the use of his persona. “There’s a line between entertainment and exploitation. The platform profits when memes go viral for men, but I have the right to ensure that no one uses my face or features without consent. Choosing to look does not give others carte blanche,” he argued.
The case is scheduled to be heard again on Monday at 4 p.m.
