Veteran Bollywood actor and Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP Shatrughan Sinha has approached the Bombay High Court for the protection of his personality rights. Sinha filed the petition to protect his name, image and his iconic dialogue “Khamosh!” Seeking to prevent widespread online abuse.
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Court reserved the order
Main points and demands of the petition
Shatrughan Sinha has presented the following arguments in his petition:
Constitutional Rights: He has cited the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution and the rights of artists under the Copyright Act.
Image damage: The petition alleges that his performances are being modified in a way that is detrimental to his reputation.
Prohibition of commercial abuse: He has demanded that a permanent ban be imposed on commercial use of his name, voice, mannerisms, signature and famous phrase ‘Khamosh’ without his permission.
Damages: The actor has claimed profits earned from misuse of his persona or damages of ₹20 crore.
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“The public is being misled”
Advocate Hiren Kamod, appearing for Shatrughan Sinha, argued that the actor has built a huge goodwill in his career spanning decades. He told the court that:
Unknown people are running fake social media profiles in his name.
Caricatures are being made using his clips and unauthorized merchandise bearing his name and image is being sold.
These activities give the public the illusion that the actors themselves are associated with these products or content, tarnishing their image.
What are personality rights?
This is the right of a famous person to control the commercial use of his identity (name, voice, face). Earlier, stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Kapoor have also obtained orders from the court to protect their ‘personality rights’.