The Delhi High Court on Friday passed an interim order to prevent the use of Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan's name, voice or image without his permission. The 80-year-old actor had approached the HC seeking to protect his “personality attributes”.
Ruling in favour of Bachchan, the court also directed telecom service providers and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to pull down all websites and links flagged by Bachchan in his plea.
Service providers have also been instructed to block access to all phone numbers used to circulate messages on messaging apps like WhatsApp, which amount to infringement of Bachchan's rights, Live Law stated in a report.
Senior advocate Harish Salve, who appeared for Bachchan, said that various Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) lucky draws and scams were being run using the veteran actor's photograph without his permission. He said besides the lottery, domain names were registered under the actor's name; there was Amitabh Bachchan Video Call and even T-shirts bearing his photographs.
"It cannot seriously be disputed that the plaintiff is a well-known personality and is also represented in various advertisements," Justice Navin Chawla said, noting that the actor "is aggrieved" by those using his celebrity status to promote their services without his permission.
Bachchan is the host of popular TV game show KBC, which is now in its 14th season.
