Delhi HC orders Meta to remove woman's morphed picture with PM, issues notice to CJP leaders over alleged circulation

The Delhi High Court on Friday directed social media platform Meta to immediately remove objectionable content featuring an alleged morphed image of a woman alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and issued notice to leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) over a plea alleging that they circulated the image.

The court also said the matter was not limited to the woman but involved the prime minister, and stressed the need for sensitivity in the police response.

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"Matter not of one lady but of country's PM. Will make sure Delhi Police is sensitive to it," the court said.

The matter was heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia after the woman's plea was mentioned for urgent listing. The plea names CJP leaders Saurav Das, Abhijit Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Ratna Singh as respondents, alleging that they were involved in morphing and circulating fabricated, vulgar images of her with the prime minister.

Advocate Umesh Sharma, appearing for the petitioner, told the court that an FIR had already been registered in connection with the alleged circulation. However, he submitted that no concrete steps had been taken to apprehend those responsible or secure the immediate removal or blocking of the viral links.

The plea alleged that the images were created using artificial intelligence-based face-swapping tools and circulated during recent protests organised by the CJP at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

"During recent protests held by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, respondents No. 2 to 5 (CJP leaders) along with their active accomplices—unauthorisedly harvested the personal photograph of the petitioner and utilised Artificial Intelligence (AI) face-swapping tools to morph her face onto a highly vulgar, compromising image alongside the Prime Minister of India," the plea said.

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The petitioner has sought action against those allegedly responsible for creating and circulating the images, along with directions to remove the objectionable content from online platforms.

The court's direction to Meta comes as the plea seeks urgent intervention to prevent further circulation of the alleged deepfake material. The proceedings will also examine the allegations against the named CJP leaders and the steps taken by authorities in response to the complaint.