Abhishek Bachchan Moves Delhi High Court Seeking Protection of Personality Rights Amid Rising Online Fraud

Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan has approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality rights, alleging that rogue websites are exploiting his name and image without authorization. The development comes a day after his wife and fellow actor Aishwarya Rai filed a similar petition, highlighting a growing trend of online fraud targeting celebrity identities in the digital age.

The plea filed by Abhishek Bachchan is scheduled to be heard by Justice Tejas Karia later in the day. In his petition, the actor has challenged the website Bollywood Tee Shop, which allegedly sells merchandise featuring Bollywood celebrities’ images without their consent. The actor’s legal team argued that the unauthorized use of his persona forms “part of a wider trend of online fraud exploiting celebrities’ identities.”

Bachchan’s plea seeks multiple remedies, including injunctions to block the website and other infringing parties, removal of infringing URLs, and directions to intermediaries such as Google and YouTube to take down unlawful content. Additionally, the plea requests the liberty to extend the order to “John Doe” defendants—unidentified parties who may host or upload similar infringing material in the future. In intellectual property and personality rights cases, such an order enables protection not just against known offenders but also against future or anonymous violators.

Advocate Dhruv Anand, representing Bachchan, stated that the platform was not only selling unauthorized merchandise but also “creating a misleading impression of endorsement,” thereby harming the actor’s reputation.

This legal action follows Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s case filed on Tuesday against aishwaryaworld.com and other infringers. Rai’s legal counsel, Sandeep Sethi, informed the court that the website falsely claims to be her “only authorized and official website” without any authorization. According to Sethi, the platform published personal information, unauthorized images, and was selling merchandise such as T-shirts priced up to ₹3,100 and mugs featuring Aishwarya Rai’s likeness, further contributing to a “derogatory, defamatory, and a direct assault” on her dignity.

In recent years, the Delhi High Court has ruled in favor of celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, and Jackie Shroff in similar cases, strengthening legal protection against unauthorized use of personal identity and celebrity status online.

This wave of legal measures signals a firm stance by Bollywood celebrities to protect their image and intellectual property from being misused in the fast-evolving digital landscape.