In a significant legal development, the Delhi High Court has extended interim protection for the personality and publicity rights of renowned Telugu actor and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister, Pawan Kalyan. The court's order, dated December 22, 2025, recognizes the actor-politician's significant commercial brand value and aims to curb its unauthorized exploitation.
Court Recognizes a Public Figure's Commercial Value
Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, presiding over the case, observed that Pawan Kalyan is "undoubtedly a known public figure". The court order highlighted his dual stature, noting his distinguished career in South Indian cinema and his current role as the Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. The judge emphasized that the actor has acquired substantial commercial brand value associated with his name, image, voice, and likeness over a career spanning more than three decades in cinema and public life.
Senior advocate J Sai Deepak, representing Kalyan, submitted that his client is one of India's most prominent public figures—an acclaimed film actor, producer, choreographer, philanthropist, and a nationally recognized political leader. It was placed on record that Kalyan has acted in over 25 commercially successful films, many achieving "blockbuster" status and ranking among the highest-grossing Telugu-language films ever.
Interim Injunction Against Unauthorized Commercial Use
The court granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction, restraining several entities from using or exploiting Kalyan's personality rights for commercial gain without his consent. The order specifically bars the use of any technology to misappropriate these rights. The entities restrained include e-commerce platforms like Flipkart, Amazon sellers, and Meesho, along with tech giants Google LLC and Meta. Since some infringing individuals or entities were unidentified, the court arrayed them as 'Ashok Kumar/John Doe'.
The court directed these parties to cease selling merchandise or publishing any material that infringes upon the actor's rights and to take down the specific URLs identified in the plea. Justice Arora stated that the balance of convenience lies in favour of the plaintiff (Pawan Kalyan) and that the continuing availability of the infringing content would cause him irreparable injury.
Key Attributes Granted Protection
The court acknowledged that the following attributes of Pawan Kalyan's personality enjoy protection under statutory, constitutional, and common law frameworks:
- His name and titles: 'Konidala Pawan Kalyan', 'Pawan Kalyan', 'Power Star', 'PSPK', and 'PK'.
- His likeness, image, photographs, and voice.
- His signature style, stature, screen persona, speeches, and digital presence.
The plea argued that these elements are instantly and exclusively associated with him by the general public.
Directive for Instagram Fan Pages
A notable part of the order addresses the issue of fan pages on social media. Appearing for Meta, advocate Varun Pathak argued that instead of taking down long-existing fan pages on Instagram, their owners could be directed to add a disclaimer. The actor's submission noted that these accounts appeared to impersonate him but did not contain derogatory content or misinformation.
Accepting this argument, the Delhi High Court directed the owners of the concerned Instagram fan pages to include a clear disclaimer in their profile description stating that it is a 'fan account'. The court held that with this disclaimer in place, no further takedown action was required against these specific accounts.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on May 12. This case adds Pawan Kalyan's name to a growing list of Indian celebrities who have sought judicial protection for their personality rights against unauthorized commercial use in the digital age.
