The Bombay High Court will hear a civil defamation suit on August 5 filed by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari against technology platforms Meta, X Corp, Google LLC, and unidentified individuals over manipulated online content regarding India’s ethanol policy.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, a bench led by Justice Arif Doctor instructed the minister’s legal counsel, Sandeep Ladda, to serve suit copies to all named respondents. The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways is seeking a permanent injunction against the dissemination of the posts, along with an immediate order directing the platforms to remove all fake and artificial intelligence-generated content.
Allegations of Personal Profit
According to the petition, unknown internet users created and distributed deepfake media falsely portraying the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader as being personally responsible for the national ethanol-blended fuel initiative. The circulating posts further alleged that Gadkari and his family derived financial gains from the program.
The filing stated that these malicious and fabricated posts were designed to mislead the public, causing irreparable injury to Gadkari’s reputation and personality rights.
Jurisdictional Clarification
In his plea, Gadkari clarified that the ethanol-blending initiative and E20 policy are administered by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, rather than his ministry or him personally.
While the petition noted that the legal action does not seek to suppress bona fide comments or fair public debate, it emphasized that the reckless and defamatory statements exceeded the boundaries of lawful speech.
