Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha has received interim legal protection from the Bombay High Court, which observed that his trademark dialogue “Khamosh” is closely and uniquely linked to his public persona. The court restrained the unauthorised use of his name, image, and other personal attributes in online content without his permission.
The interim direction was issued by Justice Sharmila Deshmukh on February 16 while hearing a plea filed by the veteran actor.
Court orders removal of unauthorised digital content
In its order, the High Court instructed websites and social media platforms to immediately remove content that uses Sinha’s identity without consent. The court also barred any future uploading of such material.
The detailed copy of the order was made available on Saturday. Sinha had approached the court seeking protection of his personality rights and a permanent injunction against the misuse of his identity, including his well-known punchline “Khamosh”.
The petition was filed through advocate Hiren Kamod.
“Khamosh” linked exclusively to Sinha’s screen identity
The court noted that Sinha’s distinctive dialogue delivery style has become a defining element of his cinematic image, particularly the way he delivers the word “Khamosh”.
“It needs no reinforcement that the expression “Khamosh” which was delivered by the Plaintiff (Sinha) in his unique and distinct style in one of his films is associated exclusively with the Plaintiff’s persona,” the HC said.
The bench observed that the material presented by Sinha showed a prima facie case of infringement involving his name, likeness, and persona, along with violations of privacy and publicity rights.
Personality rights gaining importance in the digital era
The court highlighted that unauthorised commercial use of celebrities’ identities has increased with the rapid growth of digital platforms and social media.
“The personality rights… encompass right to exclusive use of one’s own name, style, voice, personality, and so on, and with advent of artificial intelligence, digital mediums have been uploaded with digital forgeries resulting in violation of personality rights,” the HC observed.
Justice Deshmukh also noted that fake social media accounts and AI-generated or digitally altered visuals using Sinha’s face appear to infringe upon his personality rights.
“The use of artificial intelligence to produce images and videos… by morphing the Plaintiff’s face tarnishes the reputation and goodwill of the Plaintiff,” the court said.
Next hearing scheduled
While directing the removal of such content, the High Court listed the matter for further hearing on March 30.
(With inputs from news agency PTI)
