Shatrughan Sinha has now been granted ad-interim protection by the Bombay High Court against misuse of his name, photos and his quintessential ‘Khamosh’ impersonation on social media and e-commerce websites, ruling that these trademark-like distinctiveness are entitled to protection under Section 27(2) of Trade Marks Act.
The order was passed after the veteran actor moved the High Court, alleging blatant misuse of his persona on social media and sought ₹20 crore in damages from tech giants, e-commerce platforms and unknown parties for exploiting his personality traits without consent. These traits include the actor’s name, image, likeness, signature, vocal mannerisms, and the ‘Khamosh’ catchphrase.
The ex-parte order was made public on Saturday, after being earlier passed by the Court on Monday, Feb 16. The High Court also restrained several entities — including social media platforms, content-sharing sites and e-commerce portals — from exploiting Shatrughan Sinha’s personality and publicity rights and using AI tools, deepfakes, face morphing and GIFs to manipulate his performances and persona, which violate the actor’s rights under Section 38B of Copyright Act.
The Court continued the injunction till March 30, when Sinha’s interim application will be heard in further detail.
Earlier this week, Kajol too secured an interim order from Delhi High Court, restricted unauthorised use of her name, image or likeness for commercial gains.
