The Delhi high court observed on Monday that courts cannot prevent people from making fun of public figures unless the remarks are humiliating or disparaging. The bench made these remarks while hearing Patanjali Ayurveda managing director Acharya Balakrishna’s plea seeking protection for his personality rights.
A bench of the Delhi high court observed on Monday that courts cannot stop people from poking fun at public figures unless the comments are disparaging or humiliating. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela made the remark while hearing a plea by Patanjali Ayurveda managing director Acharya Balakrishna seeking protection of his personality rights. “You have newspapers, you have cartoonists. They do make caricatures, and they do make fun of people, right? Now, whether that can be taken now?” the bench said. “If you are going to be a public figure, please be ready for brickbats too. People will make fun. We can’t stop that, unless it is disparaging or something that puts your respect down or humiliating.” Google’s counsel submitted that Balakrishna was seeking removal of certain news reports, commentary, and caricatures linked to Supreme Court proceedings against him, without impleading the news organisations or content creators. The counsel called the prayer “very dangerous” and said such suits could not be used for a proxy battle against social media intermediaries. Senior advocate Arvind Nayar, for Balakrishna, clarified that content related to the top court judgment need not be taken down. He noted Balakrishna’s large following in urban and rural areas, where limited digital literacy makes people vulnerable to deepfakes, fabricated videos, or artificial voice-overs. Nayar sought time for instructions on specific content. The court adjourned the matter to Tuesday. In context, the Supreme Court closed contempt proceedings against yoga exponent Ramdev and Balakrishna in August 2024 after their undertakings against misleading Patanjali ads. The 2022 case by Indian Medical Association alleged violations of the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act, 1954, and Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1954. Separately, Justice Jyoti Singh’s bench allowed Indian cricket team coach Gautam Gambhir to withdraw his interim injunction plea on personality rights, with liberty to refile, posting it to March 25.
