New Delhi, March 19: Gautam Gambhir, the head coach of the Indian cricket team, has filed a civil lawsuit in the Delhi High Court. He seeks full protection of his personality rights against the unauthorized use of his voice and image in campaigns involving digital replicas and AI-generated deepfakes.
Since late 2025, Gambhir’s legal team has observed a troubling surge in fake digital content across platforms like Instagram, X, YouTube, and Facebook. Numerous accounts have employed artificial intelligence, face-swapping, and voice-cloning technologies to misrepresent him, showing him making statements he never actually made. One fake resignation announcement garnered over 2.9 million views, while another clip falsely depicting him commenting on senior cricketers’ participation in the World Cup was viewed more than 1.7 million times.
In addition to social media, major e-commerce platforms have been using posters featuring his name and image to sell products without permission.
The lawsuit has been filed against 16 defendants, including social media accounts like Jainki Frames, Bhupendra Pentola, and Legends Revolution. It also names e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart, as well as tech companies such as Meta Platforms, X, Google, and YouTube. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Department of Telecommunications are included as pro forma parties to assist in enforcing any court orders.
This case invokes the Copyright Act of 1957, the Trademarks Act of 1999, and the Commercial Courts Act of 2015, leveraging the strong jurisprudence of the Delhi High Court. This includes landmark rulings like Amitabh Bachchan vs. Rajat Nagi, Anil Kapoor vs. Simply Life India, and more recently, Sunil Gavaskar vs. Cricket, which firmly establish personality rights against exploitation by AI as enforceable rights.
Gambhir is seeking ₹2.5 crore in damages, the removal of all offending accounts, a permanent injunction, and the removal of all infringing content. He has also requested the court to ensure that his name, face, and voice are not used in the future. He urged the court to take swift action in this matter.
Gambhir stated, “My identity, my name, my face, and my voice have been weaponized by anonymous accounts to spread misinformation and generate revenue at my expense. This is not just a personal injury case; it concerns the law, respect, and the protection that every public figure deserves in the age of artificial intelligence.”
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