The Delhi High Court has passed a John Doe order to protect the personality rights of popular actor NTR Junior (Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao).
Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora observed that NTR Junior is a well-known public figure in India who has built strong goodwill and reputation over many years. The court said that his name, image, likeness, and identity are legally protected and cannot be used without his permission for commercial purposes.
The court clearly stated that third parties cannot use NTR Junior’s photos, name, or likeness to sell merchandise or earn money without his consent. This protection also applies to AI-generated content, GIFs, and digital formats.
Court Orders Removal of Unauthorized Merchandise
The Delhi High Court directed the immediate takedown of online listings that were selling merchandise using NTR Junior’s personality traits without authorization. The court also clarified that if any website or platform is affected despite not being directly involved, it can approach the court with an assurance that it will not violate the actor’s personality rights in the future.
Additionally, the court asked major e-commerce platforms, including Amazon, to submit their response. These platforms have been directed to explain their policies for handling complaints related to trademark infringement, copyright violations, and misuse of a person’s image or likeness.
The matter is scheduled to be heard next on May 19, 2026.
Similar Orders Passed for Other Celebrities
Earlier, the court had instructed social media and e-commerce platforms to treat NTR Junior’s case as a formal complaint under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
Justice Arora has previously passed similar John Doe orders protecting the personality rights of former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, actor R Madhavan, journalist Sudhir Chaudhary, and podcaster Raj Shamani.
Similar legal cases have also been filed by Pawan Kalyan and actor Salman Khan. Courts have earlier protected the personality rights of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Nagarjuna, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, and filmmaker Karan Johar.
