New Delhi: Privacy rights are not heritable, the Delhi High Court has said, refusing to restrain online streaming of ‘Nyay: The Justice’, a film based on the life of late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput (SSR).

Justice C Hari Shankar, in a detailed order passed on Tuesday, also rejected the concept of “celebrity rights” contended by the actor’s father, saying law can’t promote “celebrity culture” and “to fasten a legal right on something as fleeting as celebrity status, to my mind, appears to be an oxymoron”.

Dismissing a plea by Krishna Kishore Singh, who claimed the film included defamatory statements and news articles, and violated personality rights associated with SSR, the HC said no interim relief is required. The plea formed part of a lawsuit by Singh against the filmmakers for making the movie without his consent.

“The rights ventilated in the plaint—ie, the right to privacy, the right to publicity and the personality rights, which vested in SSR—are not heritable. They died with [his] death,” the HC observed. It highlighted the absence of “any judicial authority” that recognizes celebrity rights.

“It does not appear permissible, in our constitutional scheme, which guarantees equality to individuals, to countenance an extra bundle of rights available for enjoyment only to celebrities. The law cannot allow itself to be a vehicle to promote celebrity culture. Rights which emanate from one’s personality, and persona, would be available to one and all,” the HC said.