The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed several social media intermediaries to act within three days on Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s complaint alleging unauthorised commercial use of his name, images, persona and likeness on online platforms.

The veteran actor has approached the court seeking to safeguard his personality and publicity rights, alleging that his identity was being exploited by social media accounts and e-commerce platforms for commercial gain.

During the hearing, Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora asked the intermediaries to treat Mr. Khan’s plaint as a formal complaint under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, and to take necessary steps within the stipulated period. The court added that if the platforms had reservations regarding any web-links provided by Mr. Khan, they must inform him.

The court also indicated that it would pass stay orders against defendants found misusing Mr. Khan’s name, photographs or other personality attributes to sell commercial merchandise.

The matter comes amid a series of similar petitions filed by public personalities seeking protection of their publicity rights.