The Bombay High Court on Friday issued an ex-parte interim order restraining an X (formerly Twitter) user from misrepresenting himself as renowned playback singer Sonu Nigam.

Justice RI Chagla passed the order while hearing a plea filed by the singer, alleging a violation of his personality rights. The Court directed the account holder — Sonu Nigam Singh — to use his full name as the display name on the platform.

The singer approached the Court after discovering that Singh, who claims to be a criminal lawyer from Bihar, was posting communal and politically charged content using the name “Sonu Nigam,” giving the false impression that the posts were made by the artist himself.

Appearing for Nigam, Advocate Hiren Kamod argued that the misrepresentation had led to severe backlash and online hate directed at the singer and his family. He submitted that Singh never clarified that he was not the artist and continued to accept compliments clearly intended for the singer.

Kamod highlighted 14 instances where Singh either made communal remarks or responded to posts in a manner that reinforced the confusion. One such post targeting BJP MP Tejasvi Surya read:

“Don't dub Kannada movies in Hindi! Don’t release Kannada movies pan-India! Do you have the guts to say this to Kannada film stars, Mr. @TejasviSurya, or are you just another language warrior?”

Singh had also made derogatory comments about the Royal Challengers Bengaluru team after their IPL victory.

While there was no evidence of commercial gain, Kamod argued that Singh had reaped social and reputational benefits by exploiting the singer’s name, amassing over 90,000 followers, including prominent figures like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Union Minister Smriti Irani.

“Because of Sonu Nigam Singh replying to posts… look at the hate Sonu Nigam is getting. Absolute chaos, My Lord. This is what the plaintiff is facing every day since August 2024,” Kamod told the Court.

He also pointed out that the singer had quit Twitter in 2017, citing bias on the platform, shortly after fellow singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya’s account was suspended.

Though Nigam has not registered his name as a trademark, Kamod argued that legal precedent recognises personality rights in cases where the name has acquired distinctiveness and public association.

After considering the submissions, the Court barred Singh from continuing the misrepresentation and directed that his X handle must clearly reflect his full name — Sonu Nigam Singh.