Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has approached the Bombay High Court seeking directions to Meta, X, Google and government authorities to remove allegedly defamatory posts and AI-generated deepfakes linking him and his family to the Centre’s E20 ethanol-blending programme and allegations of corruption.
Listed before the bench of Justice Arif Doctor, the civil suit has been filed against Meta (Facebook and Instagram), X, Google/YouTube, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Department of Telecommunications and unidentified persons described as “Ashok Kumar/John Doe” as defendants.
Gadkari has sought permanent and mandatory injunctions for the removal of manipulated videos, images, reels and posts that allegedly misuse his name, image, voice and likeness to falsely portray him as responsible for the E20 programme and suggest that his family derived undue financial benefits from it.
The minister has contended that he had no role in formulating or implementing the Ethanol Blending Programme (EBP) or the E20 initiative, asserting that the policy falls exclusively within the domain of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and not the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
The suit also denies allegations that his son benefited from the E20 programme through an ethanol manufacturing company, claiming the viral content falsely imputes corruption, conflict of interest and abuse of office.
While stating that he does not seek to suppress fair criticism of government policy, Gadkari has argued that the impugned content goes beyond legitimate political criticism and consists of abusive language, fabricated quotes, face-swap videos and AI-generated deepfakes that infringe his reputation and personality rights.
He has sought damages of Rs 11 crore and the removal of 26 identified links containing the allegedly defamatory content.
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