Gautam Gambhir moves Delhi High Court against use of deepfakes:India head coach seeks damages worth ₹2.5 crore

Team India head coach has filed a civil lawsuit before the Delhi High Court seeking to protect his personality rights amid the misuse of his identity through artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and unauthorised commercial exploitation. The former cricketer has sought damages worth Rs 2.5 crore and sought that all content impersonating him should be taken down from social media. As per an ANI report, content falsely attributed to Gambhir has witnessed a surge on social media. Gambhir’s petition invokes provisions under the Copyright Act, Trade Marks Act, and Commercial Courts Act. ‘My identity- my name, my face, my voice- has been weaponised’ Gambhir’s petition in the Delhi High Court has mentioned several social media accounts that have shared fabricated content about him.
The two-time World Cup winner also has sought a permanent injunction restraining all defendants from using or exploiting his name, image, voice, or persona without explicit consent. The 44-year-old stated that there has been a rise in AI-generated content of him on social media, with tools such as face-swapping and voice cloning to falsely depict him making statements he never made.
Among such content was a fake resignation announcement and false remarks on senior cricketers, which have gone viral and harmed his reputation. Not just this, but Gambhir has also alleged that there has been a commercial misuse of his identity through unauthorised merchandise on e-commerce platforms, without any permission or licensing. A total of 16 defendants have been named in the lawsuit. In a statement, the Team India head coach said, “My identity- my name, my face, my voice- has been weaponised by anonymous accounts to spread misinformation and generate revenue at my expense. This is not a matter of personal hurt; it is a matter of law, dignity, and the protection every public figure deserves in the age of artificial intelligence.” Sunil Gavaskar also protected his personality rights Gambhir is however, not the first cricket figure to seek protection of his personality rights. Last year, cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar had moved the Delhi High Court against the unauthorized use of his name, pictures and identity and sought the removal of all content that misused his name and image.