3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 1, 2026 11:31 AM IST
The Delhi High Court Wednesday ruled that “no personality rights are involved” in a suit by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha who had objected to alleged defamatory content against him.
Chadha, who had led an exodus of seven MPs of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the BJP on April 24, triggering fierce criticism from the AAP, including attacks and name-calling on social media. He had objected to posts on social media alleging that he had “sold himself for money”.
Justice Subramonium Prasad, pronouncing the decision on open court, said “no personality rights are involved”. Justice Prasad said that the court in its order has, however, ordered removal of few of the posts that were flagged as objectionable by Chadha. A detailed order is awaited.
It’s criticism: What court said earlier
Earlier in May, the court had expressed orally that Chadha’s grievance lies more in the domain of defamation even as his suit was seeking protection for his “personality rights”.
The court had orally observed that the said posts Chadha had objected to, appeared to be a “criticism of decisions taken by him (Chadha) in the political arena”.
In his plea, the MP had also sought interim relief from the court for the alleged defamatory or objectionable posts that he had flagged, arguing, “The story which has gone is that I (Chadha) have traded for money. That can’t be criticism.”
The court at the time refrained from immediately injuncting the said posts and content and had said orally, “There is a difference between commercialisation of personality rights and criticism.”
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Justice Prasad had reserved the plea for orders on the aspect of interim relief in May.
Chadha had sought the court’s relief against various entities who allegedly exploited his likeness, and sought takedown of AI-generated and deepfake content allegedly circulating against him.
In recent years, the Delhi HC has seen a flurry of suits by celebrities, social media influencers, sports personalities, and politicians such as Shashi Tharoor, seeking the protection of their personality rights.