New Delhi
The Delhi High Court has granted interim relief to former India cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar, safeguarding his personality and publicity rights. Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora directed social media platforms and e-commerce sites to remove unauthorised content and merchandise misusing Gavaskar’s name, image, or likeness within 72 hours.
The order requires platforms such as Meta and X Corp to take down infringing URLs that falsely attribute statements to Gavaskar. If users fail to comply, the platforms must disable access to the content. Similarly, e-commerce sites have been instructed to delist products sold under Gavaskar’s name without authorisation if sellers do not remove them within the stipulated time.
The injunction came in response to Gavaskar’s suit alleging misuse of his identity across social media and online marketplaces. He highlighted fabricated quotes and fake autographed items being circulated without his consent.
Earlier, the court had asked Gavaskar to provide offending URLs to Google, Meta, and X, directing them to act under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
This case adds to a growing list of high-profile personalities seeking legal protection of their identity. In recent months, actor Jr NTR, spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, actors Nagarjuna, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, filmmaker Karan Johar, and podcaster Raj Shamani have all secured similar injunctions. The court has scheduled Gavaskar’s case for further hearing on May 22, 2026.
