On Thursday, the Delhi High Court heard the lawsuit filed by Aaradhya Bachchan, 11, the daughter of actors Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan against a YouTube channel for willfully spreading false information regarding her health. The Delhi High Court ruled that the dissemination of misleading information to a child especially regarding physical and mental health is completely intolerable in law.
The court also refrained the YouTube channels from publishing, or sharing, any videos identical or similar in content to the videos falling under the subject matter of the said case. Aaradhaya Bachchan, the granddaughter of Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, sued the YouTube tabloid for publishing a false video news article regarding her condition and daily life. Due to the fact that she is a minor, she has asked for an injunction to prevent such reporting.
In addition, the petition requested that ten organisations de-list and deactivate all videos regarding her. Other parties to the case include Google and the grievance cell of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. “This court has seen the images and clips. Though it’s not the first time such misleading information is circulated for celebrities, when circulated for the Child, it reflects a morbid perversity on part of those circulating in complete apathy to the interests of child,” the bench said.
Court: Every child is entitled to be treated with honour and respect, be it child of celebrity or of common person. Dissemination of misleading information to a child especially as regards the physical and mental health is completely intolerable in law.
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) April 20, 2023
“The defendants’ sole motivation is to unlawfully profit from the reputation of the Bachchan family, irrespective of the damage-causing to the plaintiffs and their family members,” read the petition filed by law firm Anand and Naik. The court noted that the images and videos of Aaradhaya, posted by the YouTube channel, were only to gain popularity and that this is intolerable. The Court also stated that YouTube doesn’t run for charity and that it’s a profit-making platform.
Aaradhya Bachchan’s plea in the Delhi High Court stated that the defendant entities’ videos used the images of the plaintiffs (Aaradhya and Abhishek Bachchan), and other members of the Bachchan family to proclaim that Aaradhya is severely unwell or has been admitted to the hospital or has passed away.
According to the argument, Aaradhya was actively participating in public activities with her mother and was in excellent health at the time when the videos were made or uploaded. She has also never been hospitalised. “The plea has been filed on account of the violation of the right to privacy of Aaradhya who is a minor child of only 11 years of age, and whose mental and physical well-being stands to suffer grave harm, if such videos and content continue to be accessible to the public.” the plea read.
Earlier, during Bob Biswas’s 2021 promotional event, Abhishek Bachchan had slammed individuals who consistently criticise his daughter on social media. He also earlier had raised concerns about photos and videos of Aaradhaya going viral over social media.
“You’ll shoot her whenever she steps out of the house. It is what it is. There is no point analysing it. She is the daughter of two actors, the granddaughter of actors as well. Her mother teaches her to be very thankful and humble about the fact that people will want to see her, appreciate that and don’t take it as a privilege. And know that in time to come, as and when and if you become a professional in this sphere, you have to work very hard. My wife had told me about it when she (Aaradhya) was much younger that it is going to happen any which way, so we got to accept it,” he had said while talking to the Indian Express.
After getting married in 2007, Aishwarya and Abhishek welcomed their daughter Aaradhya into the world in 2011.
