The Delhi High Court has ordered the removal of AI-generated videos and images depicting Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta as a liquor seller, delivery agent and street vendor, calling the material defamatory and offensive to the dignity of a woman holding a constitutional office.
The order followed a lawsuit filed by Gupta seeking the removal of the content posted on the official and verified social media accounts of the Aam Aadmi Party. The court also issued notice to the party and other respondents, directing them to submit written replies within 30 days.
Justice Manoj Jain said political parties have the right to criticise government policies, decisions and administrative action. However, the court said that using AI-generated videos to portray a chief minister in a humiliating manner could not be justified as political satire when it harmed her dignity.
The court observed that there is a fine line between political satire and offensive depiction. It said that while a court might not intervene in content that is genuinely humorous or satirical, intervention becomes necessary when the material causes an injury to a person’s dignity.
“Satire may hurt a person, but it cannot be permitted to inflict such a wound that it may never heal,” Justice Jain said, according to the report. The court also said that freedom of expression and the description of content as humour or satire could not provide unlimited permission to humiliate or ridicule an individual.
The court’s observations address the use of synthetic media in political communication, where digitally generated images and videos can depict public figures in situations that have no factual basis. Gupta had alleged that she was shown in the videos as a liquor seller, delivery agent and street vendor despite there being no real-world basis for those portrayals.
The court said the possibilities for creating such videos and images were now unlimited, but publishing or not publishing them remained within human control. It therefore said that limits should not be crossed when digitally generated material is prepared for public circulation.
The order does not prevent political criticism of the Delhi government or its policies. Instead, it distinguishes criticism of public action from personal depiction that the court considered degrading. That distinction is particularly relevant to online political campaigning, where verified party accounts can distribute digitally altered material directly to large audiences.
The report said that none of the respondents appeared before the court despite notices being issued. The Aam Aadmi Party and the other respondents have been given 30 days to file their written responses. The court’s further proceedings will determine how the parties answer the allegations and the removal direction.
