Delhi HC Defers Hearing On Gautam Gambhir’s Plea Against Deepfake, Impersonation Content

The Delhi High Court on Friday deferred the hearing on a plea filed by Gautam Gambhir, seeking protection of his personality and publicity rights against alleged digital impersonation and deepfake content.

A single-judge Bench of Justice Jyoti Singh listed the matter for March 23, citing discrepancies in the pleadings and directing the plaintiff to submit a corrected memo of parties.

The court observed inconsistencies between the plaint and the memo of parties, asking for amendments in line with the original filing.

Gambhir has filed the suit before the Commercial Division against 16 defendants, including social media accounts, e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart, intermediaries like Meta Platforms Inc, X Corp and Google LLC (YouTube), along with government bodies as proforma parties.

In his plea, Gambhir alleged a coordinated campaign of digital impersonation using artificial intelligence tools such as face-swapping and voice-cloning to create misleading content.

The suit highlights a sharp rise in such material across platforms like Instagram, X, YouTube and Facebook.

He cited viral deepfake videos, including a fabricated resignation announcement and misleading remarks attributed to him, both of which garnered significant online traction.

The plea argues that such content misleads the public and risks serious reputational harm, especially given his role as head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team.

The plea flags unauthorised merchandise using his identity and seeks an injunction, Rs 2.5 crore damages, and content removal. It joins similar cases by Sunil Gavaskar, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Kajol and others seeking protection of personality rights.

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