The Delhi High Court declined to issue a blanket takedown of fan pages related to actors Janhvi Kapoor and Khushi Kapoor in personality rights lawsuits. The court granted limited relief against obscene content and unauthorized merchandise but left fan-run accounts for further hearings, according to medianama.com. Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani rejected an injunction covering 6,884 URLs cited by Janhvi Kapoor's suit.
Justice Bhambhani ruled that fan pages could include satire, criticism, or admiration, and therefore could not be broadly banned. The court identified three categories for potential relief: content that is obscene or pornographic, content that directly monetizes the personality rights, and content using the actors’ names or likenesses to sell merchandise or services. The judge warned against misuse of personality rights to conceal wrongdoing and declined to grant any blanket orders on this basis.
This decision marks a departure from earlier Delhi HC rulings in 2026, which granted broad injunctions in cases involving celebrities such as Ravi Kishan, Aman Gupta, and Varun Dhawan. The court emphasized the subjective nature of terms like “misleading” and expressed concern over the exponential increase in URLs cited, noting the issue had escalated beyond initial intentions. The ruling underscores the court’s cautious approach to balancing personality rights with freedom of expression.
The court’s approach leaves open the possibility of targeted action against specific content categories while preserving fan pages that do not violate these standards. The next hearings will address remaining issues related to the fan-run accounts and their content. The ruling was reported by medianama.com on August 13.