New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday agreed to hear a plea seeking immediate removal and blocking of an alleged AI-generated and morphed image of a woman shown alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the petitioner accusing Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das, Abhijit Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Ratna Singh of circulating the image.
The matter was mentioned before Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya by advocate Umesh Sharma, who submitted that an FIR had already been registered in connection with the incident.
The High Court assured that the matter would be taken up for hearing on Friday.
According to the petition, the woman has alleged that the CJP leaders and their associates unauthorisedly obtained her photograph and used Artificial Intelligence (AI) face-swapping tools to morph her face onto a “highly vulgar and compromising image” alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The petitioner has alleged that the morphed image was printed on physical banners and displayed during CJP demonstrations at Jantar Mantar, where sexually suggestive and derogatory slogans were allegedly raised.
The plea further alleged that videos of the banners and the alleged incident were uploaded on Instagram and other social media platforms and that the morphed images were subsequently uploaded and circulated on pornographic websites.
The petitioner has described the alleged incident as a “vicious, coordinated cyber-assault, public character assassination, and deepfake generation”.
According to the petition, the alleged incident took place in July during protests organised by the CJP at Jantar Mantar. The petitioner stated that she approached the police on September 23 after facing severe online harassment and threats of sexual assault.
The Delhi Police registered an FIR at the Cyber Police Station, New Delhi, on September 24 under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act.
The petition claimed that despite registration of the FIR, the cyber authorities have not taken immediate steps to secure the takedown or blocking of the allegedly viral deepfake content.
It further said that the continued circulation of the images has subjected the petitioner to “continuous, life-threatening intimidation, rape threats, and severe mental trauma”.
The plea has sought directions to the authorities to immediately trace, block and remove the alleged morphed and explicit images from social media platforms and pornographic websites.
The petitioner has also sought protection of her life, liberty and bodily integrity, besides preservation of electronic evidence relating to the alleged cyber-assault.
The four CJP leaders — Saurav Das, Abhijit Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Ratna Singh — have been named as respondents in the petition along with the Delhi government and Meta Platforms, India Pvt. Ltd.
The petition stated that the alleged material remained accessible online despite the registration of an FIR, prompting the petitioner to approach the High Court and seek urgent intervention.