Delhi HC orders removal of obscene content featuring Khushi Kapoor

MUMBAI: The court has drawn a line around Khushi Kapoor’s image. The Delhi High Court has directed the removal of online links carrying obscene or pornographic material featuring the actor, as well as links offering merchandise using her image without authorisation, in a personality rights case.

Justice Jyoti Singh limited the interim relief to the two categories, while leaving the question of whether certain social media accounts constituted impersonation or were simply fan pages for consideration at a later stage.

Kapoor had approached the court against unidentified persons, alleging that her identity was being misused commercially through unauthorised merchandise featuring her image and through the circulation of obscene or pornographic material using her likeness.

During the hearing, Kapoor’s counsel presented links to websites allegedly selling merchandise bearing her image. The court was also shown other links on the same website that allegedly hosted pornographic material. Kapoor’s counsel submitted that the website had previously been restrained by the Delhi High Court in separate proceedings.

A separate set of links related to social media accounts that Kapoor’s side had flagged as impersonating her. Meta’s counsel disputed that characterisation, arguing that the accounts were fan pages and pointing to disclaimers in their Instagram biographies.

Kapoor’s counsel did not press the impersonation-related links during Wednesday’s hearing, choosing to address that issue separately. As a result, the court’s immediate directions were confined to the alleged obscene or pornographic material and unauthorised merchandise.

The court directed that the identified links be taken down through the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Department of Telecommunications.

The case will next come up before the joint registrar on 17 September, while the interim application is listed before the court on 18 December.

The order comes a day after Kapoor’s sister Janhvi Kapoor also approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of her personality rights. In that case, Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani declined to grant a blanket injunction covering nearly 6,884 URLs cited in her plea, but ordered the immediate removal of material that was prima facie obscene or pornographic.

For Khushi Kapoor, the latest order keeps the immediate focus narrower: protecting her image from alleged sexualised misuse and unauthorised commercial exploitation, while the broader dispute over fan pages and impersonation remains to be decided.