Delhi HC Orders Meta, X to Take Down Fake Sunil Gavaskar Quotes and Merchandise
Delhi HC directs Meta and X to remove posts and merchandise misusing Sunil Gavaskar's name and identity.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday passed a strong interim order directing Meta, X Corp (formerly Twitter), and multiple e-commerce platforms to take down posts and listings that misuse former Indian cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar’s identity. The court acted on a suit filed by Gavaskar seeking protection of his personality rights against unauthorised and misleading online content.
Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora ordered that users on Meta remove infringing URLs within 72 hours of notice. In case of non-compliance, the responsibility will shift to the platform itself to ensure takedown. A similar directive was issued to X Corp, reinforcing the obligation of social media platforms to act swiftly on such violations.
The court also extended its directions to e-commerce platforms, instructing sellers to remove unauthorised listings of merchandise falsely claiming association with Gavaskar. These included fake autographed items and images being sold at a price, despite having no legitimate connection with the cricket legend.
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During earlier proceedings, the court had asked Gavaskar to provide details of the offending URLs to Google, Meta, and X, directing them to process the takedown requests within a week. On Tuesday, Gavaskar’s counsel informed the court that Basic Subscriber Information (BSI) and IP logs of the users involved had been shared, prompting the court to allow amendments to include these users as parties to the suit.
In his plea, Gavaskar highlighted the misuse of his persona through fabricated quotes, including alleged critical remarks against India men’s cricket team coach Gautam Gambhir and other players. He also flagged false statements attributed to Virat Kohli, arguing that such misinformation could severely harm his credibility as a respected broadcaster and commentator.
Notably, Sunil Gavaskar has become the first cricketer to seek judicial protection for personality rights. Several prominent public figures have previously secured similar relief, including Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Karan Johar, and spiritual leaders like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Jaggi Vasudev. Most recently, actor Salman Khan also approached the Delhi High Court with a similar plea, underscoring the growing legal focus on digital identity protection.
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