Fake 'Pushpa' app with Allu Arjun's photo: Telugu star moves Delhi high court for protection of personality rights

NEW DELHI: Telugu actor Allu Arjun on Friday urged the Delhi High Court to restrain the unauthorised use of his name, voice, and likeness by several entities for commercial gain and impersonation.Justice Tushar Rao Gedela heard the plea filed by the "Pushpa" star and indicated that the court may pass an interim order in his favour.Seeking the protection of Arjun's personality rights, senior counsel Swathi Sukumar, representing the actor, submitted that his personality traits were being misappropriated for the sale of merchandise bearing his image and signature, operating voice-cloning platforms, AI chatbots and generation of obscene content.The senior lawyer also informed the court that Arjun holds several registered trademarks for his name.Counsel for one of the defendant platforms hosting the allegedly infringing merchandise said the products have already been taken down.Lawyers representing Meta and Google also stated that several offending links, including apps, have been removed.Several public figures, including actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Salman Khan, Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, journalist Sudhir Chaudhary, and podcaster Raj Shamani, had earlier approached the High Court seeking protection of their personality and publicity rights. The High Court granted them interim relief.Recently, the high court also protected the personality rights of cricketer Gautam Gambhir and actors Sonakshi Sinha and Vivek Oberoi by granting interim relief. (With agency inputs)