**Delhi High Court Grants Singer Kumar Sanu Interim Protection Over Personality Rights**
The Delhi High Court has granted renowned singer Kumar Sanu interim protection over his personality rights, restraining the unauthorized use of his name, likeness, image, and voice for commercial purposes. This landmark order came in the case of *Kumar Sanu Bhattacharjee vs Jammable Limited & Ors.*, presided over by Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora.
**Court Observations and Interim Injunction**
Justice Arora observed that prima facie, Kumar Sanu’s personality traits are protectable elements of his identity. The interim injunction will remain in effect until the next hearing, scheduled for March 30, 2026.
“Prima facie, the Plaintiff’s personality traits and/or parts thereof, including Plaintiff’s name Kumar Sanu, voice, image, photograph or likeness and other attributes are protectable elements of the Plaintiff’s personality rights. The Plaintiff is entitled to protect itself against morphed and distorted content which is demeaning,” the Court stated in its order.
The Court also referenced previous rulings concerning the personality rights of Bollywood figures such as Anil Kapoor, Karan Johar, and Jackie Shroff, reinforcing the importance of safeguarding celebrity identities.
**Interim Directions to E-Commerce and Digital Platforms**
As part of the interim relief, the Court ordered major e-commerce platforms Amazon and Flipkart to remove listings that violate Kumar Sanu’s personality rights. It further restrained two sellers from selling any merchandise bearing his name, photo, or likeness without proper authorization.
Digital giants Google and Meta were directed to take down infringing content identified in Sanu’s petition, along with any new material flagged by the singer in the future. Additionally, both platforms must provide Basic Subscriber Information (BSI) of anonymous accounts responsible for sharing such content within three weeks.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) were instructed to suspend URLs, websites, and mobile applications found misusing Sanu’s identity, and to act similarly against any fresh instances brought to their notice.
**Allegations of AI Misuse and Unauthorized Content**
This decision followed a Rs 2 crore lawsuit filed by the playback legend against several AI-based platforms, online intermediaries, digital entities, and unidentified individuals. The suit alleged that these defendants created fake, morphed, and impersonated content using his name and likeness.
According to Kumar Sanu, his persona was misused to sell merchandise, fake social media profiles impersonated him, and a mobile application on the Google Play Store was developed using his image and voice without permission. The suit highlighted that AI-generated sound recordings mimicking his voice and caricatured GIFs caused reputational damage and exposed him to “unsavoury humour” online.
Represented by Advocate Sana Raees Khan, Sanu argued that these acts infringed his right to privacy, goodwill, and reputation, besides violating the Copyright Act, 1957. The lawsuit underscored that his stage names “Kumar Sanu,” “Sanu Da,” and the title “The Melody King of Bollywood” enjoy dual protection under personality/publicity rights and trademark law.
**Kumar Sanu’s Response**
Following the court’s ruling, Kumar Sanu expressed his gratitude on social media, thanking his legal team and the judiciary for upholding artists’ rights. He posted:
> “I am deeply grateful to my advocate, Sana Raees Khan, for her powerful and masterful arguments that led to this significant victory in court. My heartfelt thanks to the Hon’ble Delhi High Court for recognizing and upholding my Personality Rights.”
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https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/bollywood/delhi-hc-grants-interim-protection-kumar-sanus-personality-rights-orders-takedown-infringing-content/
