The Bombay High Court has allowed Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari to file a civil lawsuit over the alleged circulation of defamatory content against him on the internet.
Gadkari moved the petition under a clause invoked when the cause of the action is outside the territorial jurisdiction of the High Court. The permission is necessary to enable the court to entertain the petition.
The permission granted will allow Gadkari to file a lawsuit against Meta Platforms, X and Google for posts containing allegedly defamatory AI-generated deepfake videos and manipulated digital content linked to the ethanol blending controversy.
The suit seeks the removal of the “defamatory" content that Gadkari says associates with the ethanol blended petrol and the E20 initiative.
Gadkari says that the E20 initiative was administered exclusively by the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and that he had no role in the programmes.
The court will hear his application for interim relief, including a temporary injunction.
In the suit, Gadkari said that the purpose of his civil suit was not to prevent public criticism of his action or government policies.
He argued that the defamatory and deepfake content published by defendant platforms is “false, fabricated and defamatory with respect to the plaintiff”. He said that the deepfake videos used his personality and publicity rights without his consent.
He alleged that some unknown persons circulated posts and deepfake content falsely portraying him as a personality responsible for the EBP and E20 initiatives,
He also claimed that he posts alleged that he and his family financially benefited from it.
Earlier in July, he had said that the sugar and ethanol businesses run by his sons have only a small presence in the sector and that he had no role in the operations and the pricing decisions.
The development comes amid increasing protests against the centre’s decision to push the use of E20 petrol. Vehicle owners have complained that the use of the ethanol-blended petrol results in mileage dropping and damages engines.
The Delhi Tourist Transporters Association is planning to march to Parliament on August 4 towards the new policy.
