The Bombay High Court on Monday allowed Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to file a civil suit against the circulation of alleged defamatory and deepfake content about him on the internet. “The order will allow Gadkari to institute a substantive civil suit on the original side of the Bombay High Court,” legal news portal Bar and Bench reported.
Court argued that the allegedly defamatory posts and deepfake material were publicly accessible to users in Mumbai, giving the High Court jurisdiction. Since the content was also available outside Mumbai, permission under Clause XII was necessary before instituting the suit.
Posts allegedly linked Gadkari to E20 policy
According to the proposed suit, unknown persons circulated posts and AI-generated deepfake content falsely portraying Gadkari as personally responsible for the government’s ethanol blending programme and E20 petrol policy. The posts also allegedly claimed that Gadkari and his family financially benefited from the policy.
The petition states that the allegations are false, malicious and defamatory, and were intended to create a misleading public perception that Gadkari misused his public office for private gain.
Suit seeks removal of deepfakes and defamatory posts
Gadkari has sought permanent and mandatory injunctions against social media posts, tweets, reels, videos and other content that allegedly use abusive language, falsely attribute statements to him and deploy AI-manipulated audio and video simulating his name, image, likeness and voice without his consent.
The suit claims the material has caused “grave and irreparable” harm to his reputation, dignity, goodwill and public image, while infringing his personality and publicity rights.
The plaint clarifies that the legal action is not intended to stifle fair public debate or bona fide criticism based on true facts. It argues that the case concerns defamatory allegations and manipulated content that, according to Gadkari, cross the line of lawful free speech.
Meta, X, Google among defendants
The proposed suit names Meta (Facebook and Instagram), X Corp, Google LLC, YouTube, the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Department of Telecommunications and unidentified content creators and distributors, who have been impleaded as “Ashok Kumars/John Does”.
