New Delhi, Jan 20 The Delhi High Court on Tuesday restrained unknown individuals from using Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa's images and identity to defraud public.
In an interim order, Justice Jyoti Singh directed the removal of his images from all online platforms.
Pahwa's lawsuit complained that an unidentified individual was impersonating him on WhatsApp. The account, which used his image as display picture, published "fabricated articles" to induce and defraud unsuspecting members of the public through fraudulent investment schemes, it said.
The plea submitted that the individual was operating multiple WhatsApp groups and mobile applications while unauthorisedly using Pahwa's name and persona to "lend credibility to an organised and ongoing financial fraud".
Such acts, the plea said, gravely endangered public interest and irreparably prejudiced Pahwa's reputation and professional standing, and sought directions to restrain the individual from misappropriating his personality and publicity rights.
"The plaintiff, Mr Vikas Pahwa, is a highly respected Senior Advocate with over 33 years of professional experience. The plaintiff enjoys a well-established pan-India reputation in the legal fraternity and amongst the general public, built through decades of ethical legal practice and through his association with several landmark cases of national importance," said the lawsuit.
"The acts of Defendant No 1 constitute infringement of the plaintiff's copyright on his photographs, misappropriation of the plaintiff's personality and publicity rights, and unfair competition. Such dishonest conduct is calculated to deceive the public, dilute and tarnish the plaintiff's hard-earned reputation, expose the plaintiff to serious reputational and legal harm, and unjustly enrich the Defendant No 1 at the plaintiff's expense," it added.
