The Delhi High Court on Friday (December 12, 2025) directed major social media intermediaries to respond within seven days to a petition filed by former cricketer and renowned commentator Sunil Gavaskar, who sought legal protection for his personality rights. Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora instructed Gavaskar’s legal team to first present all grievances directly to the intermediaries before expecting judicial intervention. The court made it clear that platforms must address the concerns promptly and in accordance with the law. These directives came as Gavaskar expressed serious concerns about the unauthorised exploitation of his identity across digital platforms.
The court further ordered that Gavaskar’s petition be treated as a formal complaint under the Information and Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. It emphasised that all necessary steps under the rules must be taken within seven days of receiving the complaint. The court added that if the intermediaries had any objections to specific links shared by Gavaskar, they should inform him without delay. Additionally, the bench directed the former cricketer to provide, within 24 hours, all URLs for which he sought immediate takedown action.
Gavaskar approached the High Court seeking urgent protection against the unauthorised use of his name, images, persona and likeness by various social media platforms and certain e-commerce websites. His plea highlighted that his identity was being commercially exploited without his consent, violating his right to control how his public personality is represented. The petition stressed that personality rights—which include the right to publicity—allow prominent individuals to safeguard their name, likeness and public persona. Gavaskar argued that the misuse of these attributes undermines his ability to exercise exclusive control over his image and reputation.
In recent months, several well-known personalities have similarly moved the High Court to protect their personality and publicity rights amid rising misuse of celebrity identities online. Among them are Bollywood actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan and Ajay Devgn, filmmaker Karan Johar, singer Kumar Sanu, Telugu actor Akkineni Nagarjuna, spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, journalist Sudhir Chaudhary and podcaster Raj Shamani. The court previously granted interim relief to these individuals. Additionally, Bollywood star Salman Khan and Telugu actor NTR Rao Junior have also petitioned the Delhi High Court seeking similar protection.