Delhi High Court Orders Removal of Fake Sunil Gavaskar Quotes and Unauthorised Merchandise
The Delhi High Court has directed social media platforms and online marketplaces to remove posts and products that misuse the name and image of Sunil Gavaskar.
On Tuesday, Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora passed an interim order asking Meta, X Corp and several e-commerce platforms to take down social media posts that wrongly attribute statements to Gavaskar and listings selling merchandise in his name without permission. The order was passed in a personality rights suit filed by the former Indian cricket captain.
The Court said that users must remove the infringing posts within 72 hours after being notified. If they fail to do so, the platforms themselves will be responsible for taking down the content. Similar directions were issued to X Corp. Online sellers were also asked to immediately remove products that misuse Gavaskar’s name or identity.
Earlier, the Court had instructed Gavaskar to share the links of the offending content with Google, Meta and X, and directed these platforms to act on his takedown requests within a week. During the latest hearing, Gavaskar’s counsel informed the Court that basic subscriber details and IP logs of the users behind the fake posts had been provided. The Court then allowed Gavaskar to amend his petition to add those users as parties to the case.
The suit points out several instances where fabricated quotes were attributed to Gavaskar, including fake critical remarks about Indian men’s cricket team coach Gautam Gambhir and cricketer Virat Kohli. His counsel argued that such false statements could seriously damage Gavaskar’s credibility as a cricket commentator and broadcaster, especially since they relate to current affairs.
The petition also highlighted the sale of fake autographed items and photographs online, for which people were being charged despite the products having no connection with Gavaskar.
With this case, Gavaskar has become the first cricketer to approach the Court specifically for protection of personality rights. In recent years, several celebrities, including Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and Salman Khan, have obtained similar orders from the Delhi High Court.
