New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Thursday reserved orders on interim relief sought by Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha in his plea alleging abuse of his personality rights through AI-generated deepfakes, morphed visuals and manipulated social media content.The case was heard by Justice Subramaniam Prasad, who orally said during the hearing that the material placed before the court appeared to be a criticism of a political decision rather than a direct case of violation of personality rights.Noting that political leaders have historically been the target of satire and public criticism, the bench remarked, “Since Independence, we have been watching cartoons of RK Laxman. At that time perhaps social media had not reached the extent it has today.”Senior advocate Rajeev Nair, appearing for Chadha, argued that many of the posts circulated online were not mere political criticism, but defamatory and profane attacks portraying the MP as someone who switched political sides for monetary gain. Referring to some photographs placed before the court, Nair said, “She is shown in a saree. We are seeing the PM distributing and showering money.”However, the bench repeatedly questioned whether criticism of a political leader’s public conduct or political choices could be prevented under the personality rights law. Nair argued that the case also involved harm to reputation and defamation. He said, “They are saying I went for the money. That can’t be a fair criticism.”During the hearing, Justice Prasad also indicated that the court may appoint an amicus curiae to assist on broader legal questions related to the balance between the protection of free speech and dignity in the age of artificial intelligence and social media.“There are cases and cases. The line between defamation and criticism is quite thin. It is very easy to see it from the other side, which affects your right to live with dignity. Also, the right to Article 19 cannot be taken away.”The counsel appearing for Meta argued that many of the screenshots relied upon by Chadha were merely newspaper reports and otherwise benign content. After hearing the arguments of all the parties, the court reserved its order on the application seeking interim relief.Chadha has approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection against alleged misuse of her image, likeness, voice and identity through artificial intelligence and digitally manipulated content circulated online.Their plea seeks directions to ban the creation and dissemination of AI-generated deepfakes, morphed videos, synthetic voice clones, fabricated speeches and other allegedly misleading content on social media platforms.The petition said that unauthorized use of his personality through AI tools is capable of misleading the public and damaging his reputation. Chadha, who was earlier an MLA from Delhi’s Rajinder Nagar constituency between 2020 and 2022, joined the BJP in April 2026 after years with the Aam Aadmi Party.Speaking after the hearing, lawyer Satya Anand, appearing in the case, said the petition sought immediate removal of the allegedly defamatory material circulated online following Raghav Chadha’s recent political transition. He said several social media platforms and unnamed entities have been named as defendants in the case.“We are pushing to block content and remove content from the website… There is a lot of abusive content due to the recent political change. These are well-planned campaigns being run by multiple agencies… Meta, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, Google and unknown violators are the respondents… The order has been reserved, it will be issued at the appropriate time… The court said yes, it is defamatory but whether it will come under the ambit of personality rights, they will take a decision in the interim,” Anand said.The case is part of a growing number of cases before the Delhi High Court relating to personality and publicity rights in the age of artificial intelligence. Public figures including Anil Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan have previously secured protection against unauthorized use of their voice, likeness and identity through AI-generated content.