Nitin Gadkari nods Bombay HC to sue Meta and Google over E20 petrol deepfakes | Today’s news

The Bombay High Court on Monday granted Union Minister Nitin Gadkari permission to initiate a civil defamation suit over the alleged dissemination of defamatory and grossly false content targeting him online, according to Bar and Bench.

Gadkari approached the high court under Article XII of the Letters Patent, a procedural provision that applies when part of the suit is beyond the court’s local jurisdiction. The provision requires the court’s permission to hear the civil action on its original side notwithstanding such jurisdictional limitations.

What happened?

The matter came up for hearing before Justice Abhay Ahuja on Monday, where advocate Sandeep S. Ladda, appearing for Gadkari, sought the court’s permission to initiate a civil suit.

Ladda said the defendants made the allegedly defamatory and deeply false content available to the public, including users in Mumbai. Since the material could be viewed within the local jurisdiction of the Bombay High Court and was intended for public consumption there, the substantial part of the suit arose in Bombay, giving the court jurisdiction to hear the case, he argued.

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However, since the same content was also available to users outside Mumbai through online platforms, part of the suit was beyond the local jurisdiction of the High Court. Ladda argued that permission under Article XII was required before the action could be commenced.

According to Gadkari’s plea, unidentified individuals circulated social media posts and grossly false content falsely attributing personal responsibility for the E20 program to him. The lawsuit further alleges that the posts falsely claim that Gadkari and his family members benefited financially from the initiative.

After hearing brief submissions, Justice Ahuja granted permission to Gadkari to file a civil suit.

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The order clears the way for Gadkari to file a substantive civil suit on the original side of the Bombay high court. The proposed case will name Meta, several other social media platforms and unidentified John Doe entities that allegedly hosted or facilitated the circulation of questionable content.

The statement of claim states that the allegations are false, malicious and highly defamatory, claiming they are made “without an iota of truth”. Gadkari alleged that the content was meant to create a false public impression that he had misused his official position for personal gain and caused irreparable damage to his reputation and personality rights, the report said.

In the proposed suit, filed through Ladda, Gadkari sought permanent and mandatory injunctions against the alleged “defamatory content” and “grossly false content”. The suit alleges social media posts, tweets, reels, videos and other material that allegedly contain profanity and insults, falsely attribute statements to him, and use AI-generated audio-visual materials replicating his name, image, likeness, facial features and voice without his consent.

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Gadkari claimed that the material caused “serious and irreparable” damage to his reputation, goodwill, dignity and public image, while infringing his personality and publicity rights.

The lawsuit also makes clear that the lawsuit is not intended to curtail fair public discussion or genuine criticism. Specifically, it states that there is no limitation on criticism and that fair, good faith criticism based on true facts and made without malice is not actionable.

According to the lawsuit, the dispute is not about legitimate criticism, but what Gadkari describes as reckless and defamatory allegations that crossed the limits of lawful speech.

The proposed lawsuit names Meta (Facebook and Instagram), X Corp, Google LLC and YouTube as defendants, along with the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Ministry of Telecom.

Gadkari, who currently serves as the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, said in his complaint that the ethanol blending program and the E20 fuel policy fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

E20 petrol in India

E20 gasoline, which is composed of 20% ethanol and 80% gasoline, forms a key part of the center’s strategy to reduce dependence on oil imports, reduce emissions and promote the use of domestically produced biofuels.

However, the introduction of E20 raised concerns about its compatibility with older vehicles that were not designed to run on the fuel mixture. Critics reportedly pointed to potential problems such as fuel system corrosion and lower fuel efficiency.

While automakers are increasingly launching E20-compatible vehicles, concerns remain about whether models sold before 2023 can safely use the blended fuel.