Justice Jyoti Singh of the Delhi High Court has granted actor Kajol interim protection over her personality and publicity rights, in an ex-parte order dated 20 February 2026. It stops anyone from using her name, image, voice or likeness without permission, and it singles out AI deepfakes and chatbots built to imitate her.
“Plaintiff is entitled to protection against dissemination of morphed and pornographic content as well as AI generated images portraying her in inappropriate clothing, false settings and inappropriate scenarios with other celebrities in the film industry.”
Justice Jyoti Singh, Delhi High Court (order, as quoted), in the order, as quoted by Storyboard18 · storyboard18.com ↗
The defendants include Amazon, Meta Platforms and YouTube, the chatbot services SpicyChat.ai and Talkie-ai.com, and merchandise sellers such as Kash Collective, Pinkswag and Nazrrco. The order covers the spellings Kajol, Kajol Mukherjee, Kajol Devgan and Kajol Mukherjee Devgan. Her case rested on trademark registrations in "KAJOL" as well as passing off, and her counsel was led by Pravin Anand's team.
The order is practical in what it demands. Social platforms must remove flagged content within 72 hours and hand over the account details behind it, and Meta and Google were told to take down hundreds of URLs. The Department of Telecommunications and the IT ministry must block the named websites within 72 hours of receiving the order, and online shops must delist T-shirts, hoodies and other goods carrying her face.
Storyboard18's wide story graphic for the Kajol order
Image: Storyboard18
Kajol told the court she had come across unpleasant AI content, vulgar chatbots posing as her and pornographic deepfakes that hurt her reputation. The court found a prima facie case and irreparable harm, and said the morphed content could mislead the public. It said selling inferior goods debases her goodwill, and, citing the earlier Anil Kapoor case, treated endorsements as a major source of her livelihood.
She joins a growing list of Indian film stars who have gone to court to protect their likeness. Kajol debuted in 1992, broke through with Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge in 1995, and has six Filmfare Awards and a Padma Shri. The next hearing in the case is listed for 23 April 2026, when the court will return to the matter.
Portrait of Kajol used by Bar & Bench with its report
Image: Bar & Bench