Sonu Nigam Wins Court Order Against Namesake Over ‘Misuse’ Of His Name

The Bombay High Court has restrained a user named Sonu Nigam Singh from using "Sonu Nigam" as his display name on X, after the singer accused him of impersonation and identity misuse.

The court noted that the account’s posts—some of which were communal or politically charged—had led to confusion among users and reputational damage for the singer, including online abuse directed at his family.

The bench found that Singh’s use of the name risked misleading the public into believing the account was operated by the celebrity.

While there was no evidence of commercial gain, the singer's legal team argued that Singh was benefiting socially and reputationally by leveraging the well-known name.

Although the singer hasn’t trademarked his name, his counsel maintained that years of public association with it granted him personality rights under Indian law.

The court accepted this view and granted interim relief, directing Singh to update his profile to reflect his full name and stop creating confusion.

The singer himself has not been active on X since 2017, when he left the platform after criticising its content moderation practices.