Aaradhya Bachchan's Personality Rights Case: The Fourth Bachchan Lawsuit In Four Years

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In August 2026, a Delhi High Court judge looked at a lawsuit filed on behalf of a 14-year-old girl and asked a question Indian law had never quite had to answer before: does a family's reputation pass down the generations, the way a trademark does?

Photo Credit: Instagram: @aishwaryaraibachchan_arb @amitabhbachchan

"The concept of personality rights is acquiring amoebic proportions. Everything is personality rights. But whose personality rights?" Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani remarked, hearing arguments in the case of Aaradhya Bachchan, daughter of Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and granddaughter of Amitabh Bachchan. It is the fourth time in four years that a member of the same family has gone to court over the same underlying right - to control how their name, face and voice are used online.

A Legal Fight That Started With A Superstar

The pattern began in 2022, when Amitabh Bachchan sued Rajat Nagi and others for using his name, photographs, voice and catchphrases without consent. The Delhi High Court granted an ad-interim ex-parte injunction, and went further than most rulings of its kind - directing the Department of Telecommunications and IT Ministry to get ISPs to block the offending links, and telecom companies to block the WhatsApp numbers circulating them.

Aaradhya's Case, And A Question About Childhood

Aaradhya's case predates that framing being tested at scale. Filed in 2023 through her father, it targeted YouTube channels running videos falsely claiming she was critically ill, hospitalised, or had died - some with morphed photographs. Justice C Hari Shankar, hearing at an early stage, made a point that has stayed with the case since: every child, celebrity or not, is entitled to dignity and privacy. Advocate Pravin Anand, appearing for Aaradhya, recently argued the issue "extends beyond her individual reputation" to the Bachchan name itself.

Aishwarya And Abhishek: The AI Chapter

By 2025, the fight had moved from photographs to something harder to police. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's counsel told the court her identity was used in AI-generated deepfakes and a fake chairperson listing. Justice Tejas Karia ordered Google to remove flagged URLs within 72 hours. Days later, Abhishek Bachchan filed his own suit over unauthorised merchandise and fabricated content bearing his name.

Bottomline

Four lawsuits from one family in four years isn't a coincidence - it's what happens when the law hasn't caught up with what deepfakes and monetised misinformation can now do to a person's identity, at any age.