High Court of Delhi — Igor Isakov & Ors (Sadhguru deepfake personality rights)
In CS(COMM) 578/2025 the Delhi High Court passed an ex-parte interim injunction protecting Sadhguru's name, likeness, image, voice and persona against AI-generated deepfake content used by rogue websites to run scams.
Key takeaway — how to prevent this
Map each AI system to the applicable privacy, consumer-protection and sector rules before deployment; regulators expect documented compliance, not retrofits.
Case brief
Read from the order on 2026-09-06. Every holding carries a short verbatim quote from that text.
- Decided by
- HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
- Parties
- SADHGURU JAGADISH VASUDEV & ANR. v. IGOR ISAKOV & ORS.
- Decision date
- May 30, 2025
- Remedy
- The court granted an ex parte ad interim dynamic+ injunction restraining defendants 1-41 and 48 from using AI tools to exploit Sadhguru's persona, and ordered online platforms and government authorities to suspend, block, and take down infringing domain names, posts, and YouTube channels.
- Appeal
- Appeal status not stated
Key holdings
The court observed that primary defendants used modern technology and AI tools to doctor Sadhguru's voice and speeches to carry out financial trading scams and unauthorized product promotions.
“streaming online content by using modern technology and AI tools to unauthorizedly morph and doctored the plaintiff no. 1’s voice” — paragraph 27
The court held that dynamic+ injunctions are necessary to protect intellectual property and personality rights from rapidly developing online infringement platforms and hydra-headed websites.
“All the above call for this Court to pass a ‘dynamic+’ injunction, a form of injunctive relief which is being granted by Court(s) in similar matters in recent years,” — paragraph 37
The court directed YouTube to suspend or take down infringing accounts and granted the plaintiffs liberty to request the removal of newly discovered deepfake content within 36 hours.
“The defendant no.45 is directed to suspend/ takedown/ disable the YouTube accounts/ channels, which exclusively pertains to such content infringing upon the plaintiff no.1’s personality rights,” — paragraph 46(v)
In plain English
Spiritual leader Sadhguru Jagadish Vasudev and Isha Foundation filed a lawsuit in the High Court of Delhi against Igor Isakov and multiple other defendants regarding the unauthorized creation and dissemination of deepfake content. The plaintiffs discovered in December 2024 that rogue websites and online accounts were using modern technology and artificial intelligence tools to morph and doctor Sadhguru's voice, image, likeness, and speeches. These unauthorized deepfakes were used to perpetuate financial trading scams, promote unauthorized products such as hair care items and books, and run fake news reports. The court found that Sadhguru had established a unique international reputation through his teachings since 1984, receiving awards in 2017 and establishing a non-profit trust in 1992. The court observed that the systematic exploitation of his persona using modern artificial intelligence posed serious risks to public trust, consumer protection, and his goodwill. On May 30, 2025, the court granted an ex parte ad interim dynamic+ injunction. The order restrained defendant numbers 1 to 41 and 48 from exploiting Sadhguru's personality rights across any medium or artificial intelligence platform without written authorization. Additionally, domain registrars, social media platforms including YouTube, and Indian government authorities were directed to disable, block, or take down the infringing domain names, accounts, and posts. The court also authorized the plaintiffs to request YouTube to remove any newly discovered deepfake content within 36 hours.
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