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Dr. Shashi Tharoor v. Ashok Kumar & Ors., CS(COMM) No. 445/2026

Rogue actors utilized advanced generative adversarial networks (GANs) and neural voice-cloning algorithms to synthesize highly realistic deepfake videos and cloned audio profiles of Member of Parliament Dr. Shashi Tharoor, falsely depicting him endorsing foreign diplomatic stances. The plaintiff invoked common-law tort protections for personality rights and the right to publicity, rooted in Article 21 of the Constitution (Right to Privacy and Dignity). Rogue entities operate under "Ashok Kumar" (John Doe) anonymous structures, shifting the enforcement burden directly onto digital intermediaries under the IT Rules 2021. The Delhi High Court granted an unyielding, ex-parte interim injunction ordering the immediate takedown of the infringing content within a mandatory 36-hour window. The court ruled that generative AI cannot bypass intellectual property and privacy laws by generating "recombinantly new" content if the underlying biometric features, acoustic models, and linguistic styles are undeniably extracted from a specific individual without consent.

The AIACT.IN India AI Regulation Tracker

This is a simple regulatory tracker consisting all information on how India is regulating artificial intelligence as a technology, inspired from a seminal paper authored by Abhivardhan and Deepanshu Singh for the Forum of Federations, Canada, entitled, "Government with Algorithms: Managing AI in India’s Federal System – Number 70".

We have also included case laws along with regulatory / governance documents, and avoided adding any industry documents or policy papers which do not reflect any direct or implicit legal impact.

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May 2026

Issuing Authority

Delhi High Court

Type of Legal / Policy Document

Judicial Pronouncements - National Court Precedents

Status

Enacted

Regulatory Stage

Regulatory

Binding Value

Legally binding instruments enforceable before courts

Related Long-form Insights on IndoPacific.App

Regularizing Artificial Intelligence Ethics in the Indo-Pacific [GLA-TR-002]

Impact-Based Legal Problems around Generative AI in Publishing, IPLR-IG-010

Indo-Pacific Research Ethics Framework on Artificial Intelligence Use [IPac AI]

The Global AI Inventorship Handbook, First Edition [RHB-AI-INVENT-001-2025]

Related draft AI Law Provisions of aiact.in

Section 21 – Intellectual Property Protections

Section 23 – Content Provenance and Identification

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