Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday adjourned till August 5 the hearing on Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s civil suit seeking the removal of allegedly defamatory deepfake and AI-generated content linking him to the ethanol-blended fuel policy.
Court Directs Service Of Suit Copies
Justice Arif Doctor directed Gadkari’s advocate to serve copies of the suit on all the respondents, including Meta Platforms, X Corp, Google LLC and unknown persons. The matter was deferred after counsel appearing for Google informed the court that they had not yet been served with the suit papers.
Gadkari has sought an immediate takedown of the alleged fake and fabricated content and a permanent injunction restraining its further circulation. He has also sought damages of Rs 11 crore, claiming the viral posts have seriously harmed his reputation.
Civil Proceedings Allowed Earlier
The suit comes a day after Justice Abhay Ahuja granted Gadkari permission to institute the civil proceedings against the social media companies and unknown individuals behind the posts.
According to the suit, several AI-generated and deepfake posts falsely portray Gadkari as being personally responsible for the government’s ethanol-blended fuel programme and allege that he and his family financially benefited from it.
Minister Calls Allegations False And Defamatory
The minister has argued that these allegations are “false, malicious and grossly defamatory without an iota of doubt” and were created to mislead the public and damage his reputation.
Gadkari has clarified that the Ethanol Blending Programme (EBP), introduced by the Central Government in 2003, and the implementation of the E20 fuel policy are administered by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. He has stated that although he has served as the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways since 2014, he has no role in formulating or implementing the E20 policy.
The suit identifies at least 24 allegedly defamatory posts circulating on social media and seeks directions for their removal.
At the same time, Gadkari has said the case is not intended to suppress public debate or criticism. “The purpose and object of filing the suit is not to curtail or prevent the public at large from engaging in discussion, debate, analysis or fair… criticism,” the plea states.
However, it adds that the impugned content is “ex facie false, fabricated, malicious, abusive and grossly defamatory” and unlawfully exploits Gadkari’s personality rights through the use of deepfake technology without his consent or authorisation.
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