The Delhi High Court on Friday granted police protection to a woman who filed a plea against Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activists Saurav Das, Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Ratna Singh alleging that an explicit deepfake video of her with Prime Minister Narendra Modi was circulated during the CJP protest.

The matter was heard by Justice Girish Kathpalia, after a Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia agreed to list the matter for hearing urgently today. The Court ordered,

"Learned Additional Standing Counsel for Delhi Police accepts notice and submits that since the FIR was registered yesterday itself, the action shall be taken as expeditiously as possible. The status report be filed by R1 (Delhi Police) within a week, detailing the exact action taken."

As the hearing drew to a close, the judge remarked,

"This is extraordinary position in which the matter is not of one lady, it is matter about the Prime Minister of the country. If they are not sensitive, I will make sure that they are sensitive."

The Court also directed Meta to immediately remove the objectionable content in question from the social media platforms managed by it and issued notice to the CJP activists.

Appearing for the woman, Advocate Umesh Chandra Sharma said that despite a complaint being filed, the police has done nothing.

"I am being threatened," he said.

The Court responded,

"Taking down of pictures, for that the case has to go to civil court. I can grant police protection."

Justice Kathpalia then asked the police what action has been taken. The counsel for the police replied that a first information report (FIR) has been registered. The Court then said,

"This relief, as I stated, should have gone to civil bench. But looking at the sensitivity, we should not make the lady run from one place to another."

After the police said that it would provide protection to the woman, the Court said,

"Earlier what happened in one of the cases was that the address was made public. I will direct that address may not be furnished in this. Address will be conveyed to sub-inspector who will convey it to the SHO of the area who will ensure that the lady is protected."

Sharma then said that the morphed photographs of the woman being circulated are explicit. The Bench agreed.

After granting relief, the Court asked,

"Have you sought compensation also? Because I remember an order where it was said that whenever political parties are doing demonstrations etc and something happens, they will be liable to pay compensation."

Sharma responded that no such relief was sought.

The woman filed the petition seeking removal of the content uploaded on social media platforms.

In her plea, the woman sought directions for the takedown of AI-generated deepfake explicit imagery and police protection amid alleged death and rape threats.

She alleged that during recent protests by the CJP at Jantar Mantar, the protest organisers and their accomplices unauthorisedly obtained the petitioner's photograph and used AI face-swapping technology to morph it onto a vulgar image alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The fabricated image was allegedly printed on banners, paraded before crowds with sexually suggestive sloganeering, filmed and circulated widely on Instagram.

The petition further alleged that the petitioner's morphed images were later uploaded to pornographic websites and that she has since received a barrage of messages threatening rape, gang rape, acid attacks and death, forcing her to remain confined to her home.

Apart from CJP activists, Meta and Delhi Police were also made parties to the suit.

The petitioner also sought directions for police protection, a comprehensive investigation with periodic status reports and blocking of the content across all platforms and mirror sites, including an ad-interim application for immediate security measures.

[Read live account of hearing]