Delhi HC issues notice to Dipke, others over 'AI-morphed photo' of woman next to PM Modi, orders takedown

The court said that the present case was not just about the woman, but about the country’s Prime Minister, constituting an “extraordinary” position.

The Delhi high court on Friday ordered the immediate takedown of a morphed image of a woman alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi and directed the Delhi Police to file a report within a week on the action taken in a complaint against the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders for allegedly using this AI-generated image during a protest at Jantar Mantar.

In her petition, the woman stated that the CJP printed physical banners of this morphed picture. (ANI)

A bench of Justice Girish Kathpalia said that the present case was not just about the woman, but about the country’s Prime Minister, constituting an “extraordinary” position.

“This is an extraordinary position, in which the matter is not of one lady; it is a matter about the Prime Minister of the country. If they are not sensitive, I will ensure that they are sensitive and I believe action will be taken,” the bench said, directing social media platform Meta to take down the image within 24 hours and ordering the police to provide protection to the woman who petitioned the court against misuse of her image.

Seeking a response from the Delhi Police, the order said, “Additional standing counsel for respondent 1 (Delhi police) accepts notice & submits that since FIR was registered yesterday, action shall be taken as expeditiously as possible. Keeping in mind the nature of the issue involved, the status report shall be filed by the respondent 1 (Delhi police) in one week, detailing the exact action taken.”

The court passed the order in a petition filed by the 25-year-old content creator, a resident of Budh Vihar Phase 2, who filed the FIR, naming CJP spokespersons Abhijeet Dipke, Ratna Singh and Saurav Das among others, and alleged her photos were used both online and at the site. To be sure, the FIR at the cyber police station in New Delhi was registered against unknown persons under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Information Technology (IT) Act.

In her petition, the woman, through her lawyer Umesh Sharma, sought directions to the police to provide her protection and conduct an expeditious probe into the FIR to unearth the complete digital trail and secure electronic devices. She also sought directions to Meta to take down the content.

This was after the Delhi Police’s counsel informed the court that the FIR had been registered on Thursday and assured that appropriate action would be taken expeditiously.

In her petition, the woman stated that the CJP printed physical banners of this morphed picture, paraded them in massive crowds, raised sexually suggestive and derogatory slogans, and maliciously uploaded videos onto Instagram and other social media platforms.

“They further sank to absolute depravity by uploading and distributing the petitioner’s morphed non consensual explicit photos onto various pornographic websites,” the petition said.

It added that following the viral dissemination of these deepfake clips, she has been bombarded with explicit messages containing explicit threats of rape, gang rape, acid attacks, and physical elimination from anonymous accounts.

“That the agony and targeted harassment of the Petitioner did not stop at social media platforms, the perpetrators, in furtherance of their criminal conspiracy and intent to utterly destroy the Petitioner’s dignity and reputation, have further uploaded and published the Petitioner’s morphed explicit deepfake photos onto various pornographic and adult websites. The circulation of non-consensual photos across public pornographic portals has exposed the Petitioner to global voyeurism, causing catastrophic psychological damage, deep social trauma, and an immediate, terrifying threat to her bodily integrity,” the petition said.

It added that even after the registration of FIR, due to administrative laxity, neither have the prime accused been arrested nor have effective statutory takedown notices been issued to Meta Platforms, Inc. to purge the internet of these toxic deepfakes.