Can't Portray Women In Fashion Which Affects Their Privacy: Bombay High Court Orders Removal Of Shilpa Shetty's Unauthorised Photos, Videos

Observing that no person, especially a woman can be portrayed in a fashion which affects their right to privacy and right to live with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the Bombay High Court on Friday ordered the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to pull down all the photos and videos of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty from various websites and social media platforms, most of which are created using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and are being used without her consent.

Presiding over a vacation court, Justice Advait Sethna heard the suit filed by Shetty through her advocate Sana Khan.

The plea was filed seeking protection of Shetty's personality rights, including her right of privacy and a right to live with dignity guaranteed under Article 21 as also protection of her moral rights guaranteed under the Copyright Act, 1957.

Justice Sethna, while clarifying that he would not be adjudicating the merits of the case for protection of Shetty's personality rights, said he would be only dealing with her right to privacy in the instant interim application.

"At this juncture, the material which is on record is prima facie, disturbing. No person much less a woman can be portrayed in a fashion which affects her fundamental right to privacy guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution and that too without her knowledge and/or consent. This would include her right to live with dignity, which cannot be compromised in any manner whatsoever," Justice Sethna observed.

The judge noted that Shetty is a well known film personality as also active on various social media platforms. "Portrayal of such images through the URLs, a list of which has been furnished, would prima facie, tarnish her image and reputation. This cannot be countenanced," the judge opined.

It may be observed that, without even going into the nuances of personality rights of the Plaintiff, the Court's have treated such rights as a shield for women against privacy violations especially in the context of digital malignment and AI generated content, the judge said.

"To reconstruct a person's identity without consent is a violation of their digital personhood. This appears to be the case here. Such blatant violations if found to be true/genuine, by misusing technology and AI ought to be nipped in the bud. A person's much less a woman's dignity cannot be publicly maligned or defamed that too without consent which is the sine qua non for such publications," Justice Sethna opined.

Further the judge observed that Artificial Intelligence and technology are a boon in today's contemporary times to be employed to ensure speedier and efficient implementation of the laws, and not as a handle of its misuse.

Therefore, the vacation court ordered all the to delete the URLs, the list of which has been furnished to them from their respective platforms/websites forthwith.

"The Defendant i.e. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Department of Telecommunications (DoT) respectively, who are also duly served, are directed to pull down all links, posts and websites which unlawfully infringe the privacy rights of the Applicant-Plaintiff," the judge ordered.

As regards the personality rights of Shetty, she is given the liberty to mention her plea before the regular court, after vacations.

Appearance:

Advocates Sana Raees Khan and Rashmi Raghavan appeared for Shilpa Shetty.

Advocate N Pathak instructed by Sai Krishna Associates along with Advocates Ashwini Sodani and Charu Shukla represented some Defendants.

Case Title: Shilpa Shetty Kundra vs Getoutlive.in [Interim Application (L) 38469 of 2025]

Click Here To Read/Download Order