No ‘Khamosh’ without consent: Bombay High Court shields Shatrughan Sinha’s signature style

Mumbai: Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha's signature "Khamosh" dialogue is "exclusively associated" with his persona, the Bombay High Court has said while prohibiting the use of his name, images and other personal attributes to create online content without his consent.

In an interim order passed on a petition filed by Sinha, Justice Sharmila Deshmukh on February 16 directed all websites and social media platforms to take down such content forthwith. It also prohibited the unauthorised uploading of such material in future.

The detailed order copy became available on Saturday.

The petition, filed through Advocate Hiren Kamod, sought protection of the veteran actor's personality rights and a permanent injunction or order against the unauthorised use of his name, image and other personal attributes including his famous punchline "Khamosh" (silence).

The high court in its order noted that Sinha has a unique style of dialogue delivery, and is especially known for the unique manner of saying "Khamosh" onscreen.

"It needs no reinforcement that the expression "Khamosh" which was delivered by the Plaintiff (Sinha) in his unique and distinct style in one of his films is associated exclusively with the Plaintiff's persona," the HC said.

It was of "prima facie opinion" that Sinha's name, likeness, image, persona, etc. deserved to be protected, as the material submitted by the actor with regard to the misuse of his name and image showed infringement of his personality rights, public rights and violation of his privacy, the HC said.

While ordering deletion of all such online content, the court posted Sinha's petition for further hearing on March 30.

The order also noted that the concept of personality rights has gained momentum due to their unauthorised exploitation on digital platforms and social media for commercial gains, especially in the case of famous people.

"The personality rights... encompass right to exclusive use of one's own name, style, voice, personality, and so on, and with advent of artificial intelligence, digital mediums have been uploaded with digital forgeries resulting in violation of personality rights," the HC observed.

Sinha's fake online profiles and digitally manipulated or AI-generated content based on his persona are, prima facie, infringement of his personality rights, Justice Deshmukh said.

"The use of artificial intelligence to produce images and videos... by morphing the Plaintiff's face tarnishes the reputation and goodwill of the Plaintiff," the court said.