Delhi High Court Directs Social Media Platforms to Act on Salman Khan’s Personality Rights Plea in Three Days
Personality rights define an individual’s legal entitlement to control how their identity is used commercially and publicly.
RMN Stars Celebrity Desk
New Delhi | December 11, 2025
The Delhi High Court has directed social media intermediaries to take the required action within three days concerning Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s petition seeking the protection of his personality and publicity rights. Following the filing of the petition, a hearing was held on Thursday, where the court issued the directive to social media platforms. A detailed interim restraining order related to other entities is also expected to be passed soon.
Details of the Petition
Actor Salman Khan moved the Delhi High Court specifically to seek restraining orders against several named and unnamed parties. In his petition, he urged the court to prevent these parties from using his identity attributes without permission, including his name, image, voice, likeness, dialogues, and mannerisms. Khan argued that the unauthorized exploitation of his identity risks misleading consumers and diminishing his brand value.
Understanding Personality Rights
Personality rights define an individual’s legal entitlement to control how their identity is used commercially and publicly. These rights are crucial for safeguarding attributes uniquely connected to a person, such as their image, name, voice, signature, or even trademark catchphrases, from being exploited without consent.
These rights are generally divided into two main components:
- Right of Publicity: This branch protects against the unauthorized commercial use or exploitation of a person’s identity, such as using a celebrity’s image in advertisements.
- Right to Privacy: This guards against intrusions into personal dignity, addressing misuse through fabricated endorsements, deepfakes, intimate doctored content, or morphed images.
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Wider Trend Among Celebrities
Salman Khan is not the only high-profile figure seeking judicial protection for his identity. Several other prominent celebrities, including Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Karan Johar, Hrithik Roshan, Jaya Bachchan, Rishab Shetty, and Akkineni Nagarjuna, have also moved the courts regarding their personality rights.
The Bombay High Court recently passed comparable orders for Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, reinforcing stronger legal protections against the unauthorized commercial use of their voices, names, and images. Furthermore, Telugu actor NTR Jr has also approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality rights.
On his professional front, Salman Khan officially wrapped up shooting for his upcoming war drama, Battle of Galwan, on December 5, and the film has now entered the post-production stage ahead of a theatrical release next year.
