Manoj Bajpayee Moves Delhi High Court Over Alleged AI Misuse of His Voice, Image and Personality

Actor Manoj Bajpayee has approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality rights, raising concerns over the alleged unauthorised use of his image, voice and identifiable aspects of his persona.

The matter came before Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav on September 21, 2026. Senior Advocate Swathi Sukumar appeared for Bajpayee. According to the proceedings reported by LiveLaw, the actor's petition concerns not only conventional commercial use of his photographs but also newer forms of artificial intelligence that can reproduce a person's voice or personality traits.

The case is noteworthy because it places a familiar celebrity-rights dispute in the context of rapidly developing AI technology.

What Manoj Bajpayee Has Raised Before the Court

One of the issues brought before the court involves H2PG Designs Private Limited. Bajpayee's side alleged that photographs of the actor were being used in a manner that suggested he was wearing suits made by the company.

A separate allegation concerns the use of AI technology to recreate Bajpayee's voice. His petition also raises concerns about AI chatbots allegedly using elements associated with his personality.

These are allegations made in the legal proceedings and should not be treated as findings against the defendants. The court has not, at this stage, made a final determination on the allegations.

Why the Delhi High Court's Jurisdiction Came Up

The choice of Delhi as the forum was also discussed during the hearing.

Justice Kaurav questioned why Bajpayee had approached the Delhi High Court when the actor is primarily based in Mumbai. His counsel submitted that some of the defendants are located in Delhi, providing the basis for invoking the court's jurisdiction.

The court also asked Bajpayee's counsel to compile previous interim and final orders concerning personality-rights disputes. Counsel was further asked to place material before the court showing how similar matters have been handled by other High Courts.

That direction could be important because Indian courts have increasingly been asked to deal with disputes involving the commercial exploitation of a public figure's name, likeness, voice and identity.

AI Is Expanding the Personality-Rights Debate

Traditional personality-rights disputes often centred on unauthorised photographs, names, merchandise or advertisements. Generative AI has expanded the problem into areas such as synthetic voices, digitally recreated faces and AI-generated representations.

The Delhi High Court has already considered several cases involving public figures seeking protection against unauthorised use of their identity. LiveLaw's account of Bajpayee's hearing notes earlier proceedings involving figures including Tabu, Allu Arjun, Mohanlal, Kajol, R. Madhavan, Jr NTR, Yuvraj Singh and singer Jubin Nautiyal.

The court has also previously dealt with disputes involving AI-generated or digitally manipulated content. In another personality-rights matter, singer Jubin Nautiyal raised concerns involving AI-generated voices and images.

The emerging legal question is therefore broader than whether someone has simply copied a celebrity photograph. AI can potentially create new material that appears to originate from, or be endorsed by, a recognisable individual even when that person was never involved in its creation.

What the Court Has Asked For

The September 21 hearing did not produce a final ruling on Bajpayee's claims.

Instead, the court asked his counsel to place previous personality-rights orders before it and explain how other High Courts have approached comparable disputes. The hearing also touched on whether such matters, particularly uncontested cases, could be handled through a more streamlined process.

The proceedings will therefore continue to develop as the court considers the legal material placed before it.

The Celebrity Hour Take

The significance of Bajpayee's case lies in the point where celebrity rights and generative AI now overlap.

A photograph can be copied, but AI technology can potentially go further by generating a voice, conversation or visual representation that resembles a real actor. For performers whose voices and faces are central to their professional identity, that creates questions about consent, commercial association and the boundaries of digital reproduction.

Bajpayee's petition is consequently part of a wider legal conversation already taking place in Indian courts. Its eventual outcome could provide further guidance on how existing personality-rights principles apply when technology can reproduce recognisable elements of a public figure without that person's direct participation.

For now, however, the allegations remain before the court, and no final finding has been made on the claims raised by the actor.

Sources & Verification

This report was independently prepared using contemporaneous coverage of Manoj Bajpayee's September 21, 2026 Delhi High Court hearing, primarily the detailed account published by LiveLaw, with additional cross-checking against India Today and other current coverage. The report distinguishes the allegations made on Bajpayee's behalf from matters that have been judicially established.