'We're not conscience keepers': Delhi HC rejects Janhvi Kapoor’s plea for blanket ban on ‘obscene’ content featuring her

The Delhi High Court has declined broad relief in Janhvi Kapoor. This concerns her ongoing personality rights lawsuit. A comprehensive interim injunction wasn't granted on 11 August.

The court refused a blanket takedown covering 6,884 URLs, according to India Legal. It said that it would not be possible without examining each infringement individually. A detailed interim order remains pending currently.

Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani presided over the hearing. He noted that the actress’ requested relief appeared overly broad.

The URLs in question covered diverse types of content. These included pornographic material and AI-generated images. Fan pages, impersonation accounts and merchandise listings were also included. Allegedly-misleading digital content was also a part of this list, according to India Legal.

The court directed Janhvi Kapoor to submit a categorised list. This should organise URLs before broader relief gets considered.

Three specific categories were outlined for separate identification. These include explicitly-pornographic or obscene content. Content directly monetising her personality rights forms another category. The third covers content using her name for merchandise promotion.

Justice Bhambhani indicated that these categories could receive immediate consideration. However, fan pages and misleading content need closer scrutiny first.

“We are not the conscience keepers of the nation,” The Statesman quoted Justice Bhambhani as saying.

During the hearing, Janhvi Kapoor's counsel raised specific concerns. Social media accounts and AI images were allegedly exploiting her identity, according to India Legal. This reportedly diverted engagement from her verified accounts.

The court questioned whether personality rights could entirely restrain fan pages. It noted that public figures naturally would attract commentary and criticism. This applies to both admiration and legitimate discussion.

Justice Bhambhani also addressed the term "misleading content". He called it “inherently subjective” without proper examination, India Legal added. This term couldn't justify restraint without deeper judicial scrutiny.

He stressed sweeping takedown orders covering thousands of URLs seemed inappropriate. The judge also wondered if the actress did not want any fans. Banning everything would leave a public figure like her “living in a cave”, he said.

The court indicated that pornographic content could be addressed separately, though. Remaining categories, however, would require further adjudication going forward.

Janhvi Kapoor was also directed to amend her memo of parties to correctly implement the relevant GoDaddy entity. The matter has been listed for further hearing on 17 August.

Khushi Kapoor gets relief

Meanwhile, Janhvi’s sister Khushi Kapoor received more favourable treatment. On 12 August, the court ordered the takedown of obscene content against her, LiveLaw reported. Justice Jyoti Singh presided over that particular matter.

This included content involving unauthorised merchandise sales. A John Doe order was indicated in her favour.

This follows similar protections granted to numerous other celebrities. These include actors, cricketers, politicians and content creators. The Delhi High Court has increasingly protected personality rights in recent times.