Delhi HC Protects Alakh Pandey's Personality Rights, Orders Takedown Of Misleading Online Content

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted interim protection to PhysicsWallah founder and CEO Alakh Pandey in his personality rights lawsuit, ordering the removal of online content that appears to be obscene, defamatory or commercially exploits his identity without authorisation.

Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani also directed Google, X and Telegram to provide the Basic Subscriber Information (BSI) of the accounts and URLs identified in the petition, enabling Pandey to pursue legal action against those allegedly responsible for the misuse.

The interim order was passed after the court examined a categorised list of online content that Pandey claimed violated his personality rights. While granting relief, the judge noted that a detailed order explaining why protection was limited to certain categories of content would be issued separately.

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The matter has been scheduled for further hearing in November.

During the proceedings, Senior Advocate J. Sai Deepak, appearing for Pandey, presented a chart listing the allegedly infringing links and the parties against whom relief was sought. He also highlighted instances of impersonation, including a Telegram channel named "Alakh Sir Lectures", along with fake accounts on LinkedIn and X allegedly using Pandey's name and image without consent.

Pandey's suit alleges that his name, photograph, facial expressions, voice, teaching style and overall likeness have been widely misused across various online platforms. According to the petition, fake social media accounts, Telegram channels, edited videos, stickers and GIFs have exploited his identity for commercial purposes while also circulating obscene and defamatory content.

The plea argues that such unauthorised use infringes his personality and publicity rights, amounts to passing off, and risks misleading students while damaging the goodwill he has built through years of educational work.

The case also raises broader concerns over protecting the digital identities of public personalities amid the rapid growth of social media, artificial intelligence and user-generated content. The High Court's interim order seeks to prevent further misuse until the matter is finally decided.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)