Mumbai: Bombay High Court recently granted interim relief to singer and composer Sonu Nigam against the unauthorized use of his name and its alleged commercial exploitation on social media. The HC, on Nigam’s plea to restrain a social media user from passing off as him, limited the relief sought only to restrain the man, a resident of Bihar, from using Sonu Nigam as a display or account name on social media platforms.

The HC said that even a celebrity is entitled to protect his privacy and prevent posts on social media that violate such a right. In an interim order, the HC observed that a person named Sonu Nigam Singh using ‘Sonu Nigam’ as his display name on his social media account is causing misrepresentation, and it amounts to the tort of passing off and is liable to be restrained.

“I am of the view that the unauthorized use and/or commercial exploitation of (Sonu Nigam’s) name by … have not only associated the name and persona with ignoble acts but have also severely damaged (Nigam’s),” Justice Riyaz Chagla said in a July 11 order, made available on Tuesday. Nigam's right to privacy, which includes a right to be let alone, is protected by Article 21 of the Constitution of India, Justice Chagla added.

The singer went off X earlier known as Twitter in 2017.

Sonu Nigam, through Parinam Law, filed an infringement suit under the Intellectual Property Law and sought ex-parte relief (without notice to the defendants) to protect his personality rights—his own name, image, photograph, likeness, and persona—against misrepresentation, misuse of all hues, as well as unauthorized and unlicensed commercial exploitation online, as well as an act of misrepresentation to others, a civil wrong of ‘passing off.’ Nigam said in June 2024 he learnt of a profile created by a person called ‘Sonu Nigam Singh’ from Bihar, on social media using only ‘Sonu Nigam’ and had over 92,000 followers, including prominent national leaders “possibly under the misconception” of it being his account.

Nigam’s suit cites certain posts that were controversial, causing him (Singer Nigam) to receive public backlash. It said the name ‘Sonu Nigam’ has acquired immense goodwill and reputation and is thus entitled to the protection of his distinctive name. Justice Chagla observed the well-settled principle and said, “while every citizen has a right to freedom of speech and expression, …(it) is not an unbridled or unfettered right.”