PM Modi AI Image Row: Delhi High Court To Hear Plea Seeking Removal, Blocking

The Delhi High Court on Friday agreed to hear a plea seeking the removal and blocking of an alleged AI-generated image of a woman shown alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The petitioner accused Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das, Abhijit Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Ratna Singh of circulating the alleged morphed image.

Advocate Umesh Sharma mentioned the matter before a bench comprising Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia and informed the court that police had already registered an FIR. The court agreed to list the plea for urgent hearing.

According to the petition, the woman alleged that someone obtained her photograph without authorisation and used AI face-swapping tools to superimpose her face on an allegedly vulgar image alongside the Prime Minister. She further alleged that people displayed the image on banners during a CJP protest at Jantar Mantar and later circulated videos of the banners and the alleged incident on social media platforms.

The alleged incident took place during a protest in July. The woman approached the police on September 23, citing online harassment and threats.

Delhi Police registered an FIR at the Cyber Police Station in New Delhi on September 24 under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.

The petitioner claimed that the alleged content continued to circulate online despite the FIR. She sought directions to trace, block and remove the images from social media platforms and other websites. She further sought protection and preservation of electronic evidence.

The petition named the four CJP leaders, the Delhi government and Meta Platforms as respondents. Delhi Police said the FIR lists the accused as unidentified.

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