Current Affairs: 25th Sept 2025

• Leh protest turns deadly; Ministry blames activist

Context: Several people were feared dead and many injured in Leh city in the Union Territory of Ladakh after an ongoing protest demanding the constitutional safeguards of Statehood and tribal status for the region bordering China turned violent.

• The Ministry said a hunger strike was started by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk on September 10 to press for Statehood and inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule (tribal status).
• It said the Government of India had been actively engaging with the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), and despite a planned meeting on September 26 with the leaders, “a mob guided by Sonam Wangchuk’s provocative statements” caused violence.
• “The government stands committed to the aspiration of people of Ladakh by providing adequate constitutional safeguards,” the Ministry said.
• It added that the demands on which Mr. Wangchuk was on hunger strike were an integral part of the discussion of a high-powered committee.
• The Ministry added that the process of dialogue through the high-powered committee had yielded phenomenal results, such as increasing reservation for Ladakh Scheduled Tribe from 45% to 84%, providing one-third reservation for women in the councils, and declaring Bhoti and Purgi as official languages. The process for recruitment for 1,800 posts had also commenced, the Ministry said.

• Renowned Kannada novelist S.L. Bhyrappa passes away

Context: Well-known Kannada writer and Saraswati Samman awardee S.L. Bhyrappa, 94.

From Hassan

• A native of Santheshivara in Channarayapatna taluk of Hassan district, Bhyrappa studied in Hassan and Mysuru districts. He served as a professor of philosophy in various parts of India, including Gujarat and New Delhi, even as he continued to write his novels.
• Bhyrappa was one of the most widely read writers of Kannada and wrote 25 novels, all of which have seen multiple reprints and translated into several languages.
• He announced retirement in 2017 after his novel Uttarakanda, a retelling of Ramayana, from Sita’s perspective.
• His novels Parva, Vamsavriksa and Gruhabhanga are considered classics of Kannada literature. Some of his popular novels were turned into equally popular films and television serials.

Widely read

• From his first novel Bheemakaya in 1958 to his 25th and last novel Uttarakanda in 2017, after which he announced his retirement, Bhyrappa remained one of the most popular novelists of Kannada. Each of his novels saw multiple editions and the first novel he wrote when he was 27 is still being reprinted.
• All his novels came to be translated into multiple Indian languages, apart from English. His novels Vamsavriksha, Gruhabhanga, and Parva, a retelling of the Mahabharata, are considered to be classics of Kannada literature.
• He won the Saraswati Samman award for his novel Mandra in 2010. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2023.

Retelling epics

• Bhyrappa retold the two epics, the Mahabharata (Parva) and the Ramayana (Uttarakanda), reconstructing them in the social realism mode using the stream of consciousness narrative. In an essay he wrote about researching for Parva, Bhyrappa writes about his travels in North India, visiting the places where the events of the Mahabharata are supposed to have taken place, including the Kurukshetra war.
• His last novel Uttarakanda, told from the perspective of Sita, was well received even by the progressives and was a sort of a departure from his earlier novels, which faced the criticism that he rarely wrote well-etched women characters. His earlier novel Kavalu (2010) had especially received criticism for being what many termed “anti-feminist.”
• Bhyrappa often experimented with subjects not much explored in Kannada. For instance, while Yaana was a science fiction novel, set in space, Anchu is a psychological novel, and Mandra was on the theme of music.

Conservative outlook

• While Bhyrappa remained popular, many critics from the progressive school argued that his novels had a conservative outlook, which was often in collision with various literature movements — Navya, Bandaya and Dalit — which dominated the second half of the 20th century. His fictional works ran parallel to these movements.

• Some of his novels triggered controversies. For example, Avarana faced criticism for its portrayal of Muslim rulers and conversion.

• India is mostly with us: Zelenskyy

Context: Saying that India is mostly on Ukraine’s side in its war with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Western countries to continue engaging with India.

• Mr. Zelenskyy is attending the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly. “I think India is mostly with us,” he said. “We had this question with energy, but I think President [Donald] Trump can manage it,” he added, urging European nations to build a closer relationship with India.

India’s attitude

• Mr. Zelenskyy said everything had to be done to ensure that the Indians do not withdraw, adding that he was sure India would change its attitude to the Russian energy sector.
• “With China, it’s more difficult,” he said, adding that it was not in Beijing’s interest to not support Russia.
• Finnish President Alexander Stubb also expressed similar sentiments. In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Mr. Stubb pushed back against the clubbing together of India, Russia, and China, calling India a “very close ally” of the EU and the U.S., and noting that it was an “emerging superpower”. Mr. Stubb urged western nations to engage closely with India as well.
• Ukraine could fight and win all of the country back “in its original form” in due course, if Kyiv had help from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and European nations, Mr. Trump had said, ahead of meeting with Mr. Zelenskyy.
• Apart from imposing a punitive 25% tariff on Indian goods (which already face a 25% ‘reciprocal tariff’) for its oil and arms trade with Russia, Mr. Trump has, in recent days, stepped up the pressure on Europe to end all trade in oil and LNG with Russia.

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• IIIT-B develops smart panels to boost 5G and shape 6G networks

Context: Mobile networks often slow down or drop in places where signals cannot reach properly. Instead of building more towers or expensive infrastructure, researchers at the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT-B) have developed Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) — panels that act like ‘smart walls’ — to redirect or focus signals. This makes networks faster and energy-efficient and is expected to play an important role in upcoming 6G systems while improving existing 5G-advanced networks.

• One of the biggest advantages of RIS is that it can be easily added to existing 5G-Advanced networks as these panels can be mounted on walls or poles to fix coverage gaps in hotspots, working like a plug-and-play upgrade without major infrastructure changes.
• For future 6G deployments, RIS can be built directly into the network design, enabling smarter beam management and optimized performance.
• In both cases, it allows telecom operators to provide better coverage with fewer towers, cutting both costs and energy use.
• “The RIS built at IIIT-B is designed as a ‘passive’ surface, meaning it consumes very little power while shaping signals. This makes it ideal and attractive for urban India, where operators need affordable solutions to improve coverage without adding heavy energy costs. Researchers are also exploring ‘active’ RIS (which can amplify signals but require power) and hybrid designs that combine the two for more advanced functions,” Prof. Debabrata Das, Director, IIIT-Bangalore.
• By reflecting and focusing signals, RIS strengthens links in blind spots and extends the range of base stations. This helps operators reduce the number of towers needed without compromising the quality of service.
• “For everyday users, that means fewer call drops and faster internet speeds, especially in hard-to-reach areas, like crowded city blocks or indoor spaces,” Prof. Das explained.

Drawbacks

• RIS does face hurdles. In case of fast-moving users, like people in cars, trains, or drones, signals change too quickly, making it hard for the panels to keep up. This can lead to delays or weaker connections. To solve this, researchers are developing predictive beamforming and AI-based mobility tracking that anticipates user movement and adjusts signals automatically.
• Prof. Das noted that to work effectively, RIS must be coordinated with nearby base stations. This requires updates to existing network protocols and control signalling. IIIT-B researchers are working on building AI-driven systems that automatically adjust the panels in real time, ensuring smooth performance without manual intervention.
• The institute’s next research directions include developing software-defined RIS with AI-driven control and testing multiple panels working together to further boost performance.
• The design can also block unwanted signals in certain directions, helping reduce interference.

• Doddasaggere botanical garden in State sees rise in number of species

Context: A botanical park being developed by the Horticulture Department at Doddasaggere in Tumakuru district, modelled on the Lal Bagh in Bengaluru, has reportedly seen a significant rise in the number of species.

• As per an Avifauna Survey conducted at the Doddasaggere Botanical Garden, 75 bird species were recorded in March 2025, a significant rise from 35 in 2021.
• The documented birds include two near-threatened and one vulnerable species, along with five long-distance winter migrants.

Green cover

• “The Doddasaggere Botanical Garden, planned to be developed on 228 acres, will be the second biggest botanical garden in Karnataka, the first being Lal Bagh in Bengaluru, and the third biggest in India.
• About 120 acres have been developed so far. In collaboration with IT services company Mphasis and non-profit United Way of Bengaluru, an afforestation drive was taken up on 14 acres within the garden, where 1 lakh saplings of 77 native tree species were planted to recreate a dense dry deciduous forest.
• The species sighted include Pallid Harrier, Asian Woolly Neck, River Tern, Booted Warbler, Green Sandpiper, Lesser Whitethroat and Tawny Pipit, among others. Over time, the forest cover in the park is expected to sequester approximately 2,100 tonnes of carbondioxide and release around 10,000 tonnes of oxygen annually.

• Global South must work together, says Jaishankar

Context: India hosts meet of 20 ‘like-minded’ countries on sidelines of UNGA; External Affairs Ministersays multilateralism under attack and international organisations are being rendered ineffective

• The concept of multilateralism is “under attack”, even as countries of the Global South are seeking more solutions from international organisations such as the United Nations, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has said.
• He said the state of the world was a cause for concern for all countries, listing a number of “shocks”, including the pandemic, conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, climate change, and trade uncertainties.
• He also called for an “urgent resolution of conflicts that are impacting food, fertilizer and energy security”. Twenty countries took part in the meeting hosted by India, including 10 at the Ministerial level.
• “In face of such proliferation of concerns and multiplicity of risks, it is natural that the Global South would turn to multilateralism for solutions,” Mr. Jaishankar said. “Unfortunately, there too we are presented with a very disappointing prospect. The very concept of multilateralism is under attack. International organisations are being rendered ineffective or starved of resources,” he added.
• Nine countries from Asia, five from the Americas (South and North, including the Caribbean), and six from Africa took part in the meeting held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
• Only Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Mauritius were present from India’s neighbourhood among the group.
• The meeting was the first of its kind, although officials did not confirm whether India now planned to hold such meetings regularly. India has hosted the “Voice of Global South Summit” in which about 125 countries have been invited for the past three years.
• It is unclear why the 20 countries present at the UN meeting had been chosen as “like-minded” rather than others, and whether more others had also been invited but declined due to scheduling issues.
• The countries represented at the meeting included Bahrain, Indonesia, Qatar, Singapore, and Vietnam from Asia; St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, and Jamaica from North America; Suriname from South America; and Chad, Ghana, Lesotho, Morocco, Nigeria, and Somalia from Africa.
• The U.S. has drastically cut its funding for the UN this year and withdrawn from several UN organisations, including the UN Human Rights Council and UNESCO. It has called for a review of other memberships in the UN system.

• EC launches e-sign feature for addition, deletion, and correction of voter names

Context: The Election Commission (EC) has launched a new e-sign feature on its ECINet portal and app that requires those seeking to register as voters, or applying for deletion and corrections, to verify their identity using their Aadhaar-linked phone numbers.

• The ECINet, a one-stop platform integrating over 40 of the EC’s earlier mobile and Web applications, went live during the by-elections in five Assembly constituencies in Kerala, Gujarat, Punjab and West Bengal on June 19.
• Earlier, applicants could submit Forms 6, 7 and 8 meant for addition, deletion, and corrections, respectively, on the Election Commission apps and portal after connecting a phone number with an existing elector photo identity card (EPIC) number, with no verification done of whether the details were those of the specific voter.
• But now, after an applicant has filled the form, they are taken to an external portal hosted by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), where he or she is required to enter their Aadhaar number and then generate an “Aadhaar OTP”. The OTP is sent to the phone number linked to that Aadhaar number.
• The applicant has to then consent to the Aadhaar-based authentication and complete the verification. Only then is he or she redirected to the ECINet portal to submit the form.
• The new e-sign feature rolled out by the commission assumes importance in view of allegations of fraudulent deletion and addition of names in some constituencies.

• Simultaneous polls committee meets Montek, Panagariya

Context: The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) reviewing the legislation on simultaneous elections met three economists — Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Arvind Panagariya, and Surjit S. Bhalla — who presented two contrasting views on the issue.

• Mr. Ahluwalia, former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, rejected the claim that simultaneous elections would lead to economic growth.
• Mr. Panagariya and Mr. Bhalla, on the other hand, argued in favour of it.
• A report by the High-Level Committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind has said the synchronised election cycle projected a 1.5% increase in GDP.
• The JPC is headed by Bharatiya Janata Party MP P.P. Chaudhary.
• Mr. Ahluwalia said the election expenditure would remain unaffected whether polls were held simultaneously or not, sources said. There was no evidence to point at a bump in GDP. There was no hard data backing this claim, Mr. Ahluwalia told the panel. “He argued that economic growth and the election cycle have no clear-cut connection,” a member of the panel said on condition of anonymity.
• Earlier in the day, speaking in favour of the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, Mr. Panagariya, who chairs the 16th Finance Commission, contended that there was “large academic evidence” that government spending rose before elections, leading to a higher fiscal deficit.
• Government expenditure in this period moves away from capital expenditure to revenue expenditure, pointing to deterioration in the quality of expenditure, Mr. Panagariya said. To back his points, he said the Finance Commission was impacted by the 2024 Lok Sabha election and the following Assembly elections, resulting in delays in its consultation process. Mr. Panagriya, sources said, contended that not holding elections simultaneously was an impediment to structural reforms.

• No takers yet for EV localisation scheme

Context: No applications received for the govt.’s ₹4,150 crore investment-linked import concession programme for e-cars to boost local manufacturing

• Three months after the Centre announced a scheme offering duty concessions on imported electric cars in exchange for commitments to local manufacturing, primarily aimed at wooing Tesla, no automaker has expressed interest.
• The Ministry of Heavy Industries launched a portal on June 24 for accepting applications under the Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars in India (SPMEPCI). The last day to apply for the scheme is October 21, 2025.
• Officials said that auto makers were waiting for important foreign trade agreements (FTAs) such as those with the U.S. and European Union to conclude, in case those agreements offered attractive concessions.
• They cited the FTA with the U.K. as an example, wherein import duties on U.K.-built vehicles, including electric and conventional cars, are cut from over 100% to about 10%, but only for a limited number of vehicles under an annual quota.

• Finance Minister launchesGST Appellate Tribunal        
• Justice regarding disputes pertaining to the GST will now not only be fair and fast, but also transparent and accessible to all, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, launching the GST Appellate Tribunal.
• The GST Council, during its 56th meeting on September 3, had decided that the GSTAT would be made operational for accepting appeals before the end of September and would begin hearings before December end this year.

• Qatar enables UPI, Qatar Duty Free becomes first merchant
• NPCI International Payments Ltd., in partnership with Qatar National Bank, has enabled the acceptance of QR code-based Unified Payments Interface (UPI) across Qatar via point-of-sale terminals for merchants acquired by QNB and powered by NETSTARS’ payment solution.
• This move will enable Indian travellers to make UPI payments seamlessly at major tourist attractions and Qatar Duty Free outlets, which is the first merchant to go live on UPI, NPCI said.

• Will AI fix India’s energy demand or will its own needs snowball?

Context: A report estimates that annual global demand for data centre capacity may increase by 19 to 22% from 2023 to 2030, reaching 171 to 219 GW compared to the current demand of 60 GW; this would require building twice the capacity built since 2000 within a quarter of that time frame.

• As artificial intelligence (AI) and its attendant data demand continue to expand in India and worldwide, a curious dilemma has arisen: will AI help transform energy delivery for the better or will the data centres crucial to its operations impose a new burden on the world’s power grid?
• In a 2024 report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) highlighted the growing interconnections between energy and AI worldwide. It projected that demand from data centres would more than double by 2030 to around 945 TWh and that AI would be the principal driver. The demand from AI-optimised data centres was projected to more than quadruple by 2030.
• A McKinsey report has also estimated that the annual global demand for data centre capacity could rise at 19-22% from 2023 to 2030, reaching 171-219 GW, against the total current demand of 60 GW. To avoid a deficit, at least twice as much data centre capacity built since 2000 will have to be in place in less than a quarter of the time.
• Given AI’s significant hunger for computing power, energy demand is naturally increasing, Anwesha Sen, an assistant programme manager at Takshashila University studying the impact of technology policy and AI on society, said. She is, however, optimistic that it’s “not as drastic when compared to other energy-intensive industries”.
• Worldwide, data centres consume 1-2% of total power and that’s expected to increase to 3-4% by 2030. To compare, the steel industry consumes around 7% of total power, Ms. Sen said.

Pressure, and potential

• According to McKinsey, India’s data centre demand is projected to increase from 1.2 GW in 2024 to 4.5 GW by 2030, driven largely by AI and digital adoption across sectors.
• Mumbai accounts for 41% of the data centre capacity, followed by Chennai (23%) and the National Capital Region (14%).
• AI-driven data centres in India are projected to consume an additional 40-50 TWh of electricity annually by 2030, according to Raghu Raman, Professor and Dean at the School of Business at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.
• The increasing adoption of AI and digital technologies in India is contributing to a significant rise in energy demand, especially in already energy-intensive sectors like real estate, Vimal Nadar, national director of research at the Mumbai-based India office of Colliers, a global investment company, said. India is the third-largest energy consumer worldwide, after China and the U.S., with coal, crude oil, and natural gas comprising the bulk of its energy mix.
• The energy consumption of data centres is imposing huge pressure on energy systems worldwide, Anish De, global head for Energy, Natural Resources, and Chemicals at KPMG, said, adding: “India will not be any different.”
• According to Ms. Sen, an equal concern is the correspondingly increasing demand for freshwater required to cool the servers in these data centres.
• That said, there is scope to press AI to the service of smarter energy management as well.
• “AI is playing a pivotal role in transforming how energy is delivered, utilised, and managed, both globally and within India,” Mr. Nadar said.
• On the one hand, AI could help develop energy transition technologies and as well as new materials that mitigate India’s dependence on critical minerals it currently has to import from abroad, Dr. De said by way of example.
• “It will also aid faster project development. This is already playing out in the main geographies and will propagate to others quickly,” he added. “We will see energy efficiency and resource efficiency gains that will also be substantial, though not enough to offset the demand. AI itself will support the gains in expansion of clean energy.”
• On the flip side, carbon emissions will also increase. “Despite best efforts it is practically impossible to meet this demand from renewables, both from quality and quantity standpoints,” according to Dr. De.
• The IEA also noted in its report that AI “could intensify some energy security strains” as “cyberattacks on energy utilities have tripled in the past four years and become more sophisticated because of AI,” even as AI tools are becoming critical for energy companies to defend against such attacks.

Renewables rescue

• As energy demand intensifies, real estate stakeholders are increasingly prioritising energy efficiency, sustainability, and emission reduction in both new developments and retrofitting of existing assets, Mr. Nadar said.
• “Concurrently, there is a growing emphasis on renewable energy adoption. Real estate developers are increasingly incorporating rooftop solar solutions and solar-integrated building systems, further reducing the sector’s reliance on conventional energy sources.”
• The IEA has also said a range of energy sources will be tapped to meet data centres’ rising electricity needs although, according to its report, “renewables and natural gas are set to take the lead due to their cost-competitiveness and availability in key markets.”
• India and many other countries are taking advantage of AI to enhance energy efficiency and promote sustainable real estate practices, per Mr. Nadar. In India, the Energy Conservation Building Code and the Roadmap of Sustainable and Holistic Approach to National Energy Efficiency scheme aim to integrate AI and data analytics into smart metering, renewable energy management, and sustainable building design.
• Also within the real-estate sector, AI-driven solutions like smart lighting systems, predictive HVAC optimisation, and automated building controls promise to reduce energy consumption by up to 25%. Green certifications such as GRIHA and LEED further encourage AI-based monitoring of energy and resource usage.
• Data centres are also adopting AI to optimise cooling systems and server utilisation. As of April 2025, nearly one-fourth of the country’s total data centre capacity in major cities had been green-certified, reflecting an explicit focus on creating sustainable infrastructure. Almost 67% of the Grade A office stock across India’s top seven cities is also green-certified.

‘Need some nudging’

• Under the National Smart Grid Mission, AI-enabled systems manage demand and integrate renewables, enhancing grid reliability while reducing wastage, according to Raman.
• The Nxtra (Airtel) Data Centres use AI-powered cooling and predictive analytics to cut energy use, paired with renewable power purchase agreements to run green data centres. BrightNight’s PowerAlpha AI deployed in India to forecast and optimise hybrid solar-wind-battery plants and ensure 24/7 access to renewable energy while minimising grid stress.
• Tata Power ReNew Power and Hindustan Zinc both use AI for real-time load forecasting, reducing outages and optimising power supply in Mumbai, Dr. Raman added. BESCOM in Karnataka has also started using AI to detect faults and ‘heal’ grid sections and thus mitigate downtime. Similarly, smart meters in Uttar Pradesh have been using AI to detect power theft as well as manage demand-side issues.
• “A digital energy grid approach aims to build a unified and interoperable power infrastructure, and its potential can be amplified using AI,” Ms. Sen said.
• She added that companies are also working to develop “sustainable AI” that uses recycled water and has higher power use efficiency.
• “As the race to build the most capable AI systems has got companies investing in massive data centres, a transition of the energy grid itself to use more sustainable power sources is required and might need some nudging by governments,” Ms. Sen said.

• How are courts protecting personality rights?

Context: How are Bollywood actors like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan flagging the misuse of their voices and likeness through AI-generated content? What are personality rights? Will such injunctions by the judiciary restrict free speech?

• The Delhi High Court has recently issued a series of orders protecting the personality rights of Bollywood celebrities from unauthorised commercial use.
• On September 9 and 10, Justice Tejas Karia granted relief to actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan, after they flagged the misuse of their images and voices through AI-generated content and merchandise.
• A week later, Justice Manmeet P.S. Arora extended similar protections to filmmaker Karan Johar, by barring the unauthorised use of his persona through deepfakes, and other digital manipulation.
• Actors Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, and Jackie Shroff have already secured such protections. These petitions signal a wider push for judicial recognition of personality rights in the digital era.

Are personality rights protected?

• Personality rights safeguard an individual’s name, likeness, image, voice, signature, and other distinctive traits from unauthorised commercial exploitation.
• Though not codified in a single statute, personality rights in India are grounded in common law doctrines of privacy, defamation, and publicity rights, and reinforced through judicial precedents.
• Courts may grant injunctions, award damages, or issue takedown orders to curb misuse in advertisements, merchandise, AI-generated content, or digital platforms.
• Statutory protection is dispersed across intellectual property laws. The Copyright Act, 1957, grants performers both exclusive rights under Section 38A and moral rights under Section 38B, allowing them to control how their performances are reproduced and to object to any distortion or misuse. The Trade Marks Act, 1999, permits individuals, particularly celebrities, to register distinctive attributes of their persona, such as names, signatures, or even catchphrases, as trademarks.
• For instance, actors such as Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Ajay Devgn, and Amitabh Bachchan have registered their names as trademarks. However, the most robust safeguard lies in the common law tort of “passing off” under Section 27 of the Act, which protects the goodwill of an unregistered mark and prevents misrepresentation that could deceive the public or imply false endorsement. This protection is neither automatic nor absolute, as courts generally require clear evidence of reputation and goodwill before granting relief.
• At the heart of personality rights lies the right to autonomy and privacy rooted in Article 21 of the Constitution. When a celebrity consents to appear in a film, advertisement, or public campaign, they exercise control over their public identity. But when third parties print their image on merchandise or use AI tools to generate deepfakes or chatbots without authorisation, that autonomy is stripped away and the individual’s dignity and agency are compromised.

What have courts ruled so far?

• The jurisprudence on personality rights in India traces its origins to the seminal 1994 judgment in R. Rajagopal versus State of Tamil Nadu, where a magazine sought to publish the autobiography of Auto Shankar, a death-row convict, recounting details of his private life and alleged links with State officials. The government moved to restrain the publication on grounds of privacy and defamation. The Supreme Court recognised that individuals possess a legitimate interest in controlling the use of their identity, grounding this protection in the constitutional right to privacy. However, it clarified that remedies for privacy violations must follow publication, through actions such as defamation suits, rather than through prior restraint by the state. The court held that personal details may be published without consent if they are already part of the public record.
• Two decades later, the Madras High Court crystallised the emerging doctrine in a case involving actor Rajinikanth. The lawsuit, filed against the producers of the film Main Hoon Rajnikanth, alleged misuse of the actor’s name, image, and distinctive style of delivering dialogues. The court stressed that infringement does not require proof of falsity, confusion, or deception if the celebrity is readily identifiable, and accordingly upheld the actor’s right to restrain the unauthorised commercial exploitation of his persona.
• With the advent of AI, courts have had to grapple with novel threats to identity. In 2023, the Delhi High Court granted actor Anil Kapoor wide-ranging protection over his personality rights, restraining 16 online entities from exploiting his name, image, voice, likeness, or his catchphrase “jhakaas,” which he popularised in films. Justice Prathiba Singh clarified that free speech extends to “genuine write-ups, parody, satires and criticism” but cannot be stretched to justify commercial exploitation. She cautioned that when such use “crosses the line and results in tarnishing, blackening or jeopardising the individual’s personality and elements associated with them, it would be illegal.” Referring to morphed images of the actor with other actresses, she said this was “not merely offensive” to him but also to third parties, adding that the court “can’t turn a blind eye to such misuse,” particularly where dilution and tarnishment are actionable torts. Similarly, in May 2024, the Delhi High Court protected the personality and publicity rights of actor Jackie Shroff, restraining e-commerce platforms and AI chatbots from misusing his name, image, voice, and likeness without consent. The court observed that the “unauthorised use of these characteristics for commercial purposes not only infringes upon these rights but also dilutes the brand equity painstakingly built by the plaintiff over the years.”
• A few months later, the Bombay High Court delivered a significant ruling in favour of singer Arijit Singh, who alleged that Codible Ventures LLP had used AI tools to create artificial recordings of his voice, a practice known as voice cloning. The court reiterated that the singer’s “name, voice, image, likeness, persona and other traits” are protected under his personality rights. Expressing concern over the risks of generative AI, Justice R.I. Chagla observed, “What shocks the conscience of this court is the manner in which celebrities, particularly performers such as the present Plaintiff, are vulnerable to being targeted by unauthorised generative AI content.”

To what extent can such rights curtail free expression?

• Critics argue that the expansive protection of personality rights could stifle free expression.
• Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to freedom of speech, which includes the creative freedom to criticise, parody, or satirise public figures. However, Indian courts have repeatedly affirmed that this right is not absolute and must be balanced against an individual’s dignity and autonomy.
• In DM Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. versus Baby Gift House (2010), the Delhi High Court dealt with a petition filed by a company to which singer Daler Mehndi had assigned his personality rights. The company had alleged that gift shops were selling dolls that were “cheap imitations of, and identical to the likeness” of Mr. Mehndi, amounting to the unauthorised commercial exploitation of his persona. While granting an injunction, Justice S. Ravindra Bhat cautioned that caricatures, lampooning, and parodies would not ordinarily infringe publicity rights. He warned that an “overemphasis on a famous person’s publicity rights” could chill free speech and deprive the public of an entire genre of expression.
• This principle was reaffirmed more than a decade later in Digital Collectibles PTE Ltd. versus Galactus Funware Technology Pvt. Ltd. (2023), which involved the unauthorised use of sports stars’ likenesses despite exclusive licences held by the plaintiff.
• The Delhi High Court refused to broaden publicity rights at the expense of free expression, noting that material already in the public domain could not reasonably mislead the public into believing there was an endorsement. Justice Amit Bansal clarified that the use of celebrity names or images for “lampooning, satire, parodies, art, scholarship, music, academics, news and other similar uses” is a legitimate exercise of Article 19(1)(a) and does not amount to infringement of publicity rights.

What are the concerns?

• Jwalika Balaji, research fellow at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, that a comprehensive legislative framework is the need of the hour to ensure that the enforcement of such rights is not reliant on piecemeal judicial precedents. “In the absence of a regulatory regime, responses remain fragmented and ad hoc. More importantly, there is a fine line between artistic creation and a breach of personality rights. Exceptions must be clearly identified and firmly respected, especially in times when concerns over censorship loom large,” she said.
• She further pointed out that personality rights are not the exclusive privilege of celebrities, since all individuals enjoy the right to privacy. “Ordinary citizens, especially women, are increasingly targeted through deepfakes and revenge pornography. Laws must be tailor-made to address this disproportionate impact on women,” she said. She noted that in such cases, courts often direct the government to block URLs impersonating an individual or misusing their images without consent. However, she cautioned that tracking every such breach and acting on it remains a herculean task.