Bombay HC orders takedown of deepfake posts linking Gadkari to E20 policy

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted interim relief to Union road minister Nitin Gadkari in a defamation suit, directing social media platforms to remove allegedly defamatory and deepfake content linking him and his family to the Centre's E20 ethanol-blending programme.

A single judge bench of Justice Arif Doctor observed that the content flagged by Gadkari was “vile and abusive” and said such material should not be present on public platforms.

“The material which plaintiff (Nitin Gadkari) seeks to pull down, I can only say that the same is absolutely vile and abusive. Such material should have no place on a public platform, which is accessible to everyone including young…. Meta and Google have appeared and they have agreed to take down the material set out” the court said in its interim order.

The court also granted liberty to Gadkari to inform the platforms of any similar content in the future. “In the event certain further defamatory content comes to the knowledge of the plaintiff (Nitin Gadkari), they shall inform the defendants who will take action," the court said.

Counsel representing Meta argued that some content may be fair. Replying to that, senior counsel Sandeep S. Ladda, representing Gadkari, said they are not against “fair criticism”.

The court also urged Meta and Google to develop mechanisms to take down such content, without coming to the court every time.

The matter will be heard again after four weeks.

The suit was filed against social media company Meta and several other social media platforms, including X, Google and YouTube.

Deepfake content

According to the petition, unidentified persons circulated posts and deepfake videos portraying Gadkari as personally responsible for the E20 policy introduced by the government. He also alleged that these posts have claimed that his family have financially benefited from this policy.

He claimed that the posts were misleading, causing harm to his reputation and personality rights. He also sought ₹11 crore in damages.

He also stated that the E20 programme was monitored by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. E20 petrol is a blend of 20% ethanol and 80% petrol. The programme aims to reduce India's dependence on crude oil imports.

On 27 July, the Bombay High Court granted Gadkari leave to institute the suit under Clause XII of the Letters Patent after Ladda argued that the allegedly defamatory content was accessible in Mumbai, giving the court territorial jurisdiction.

Clause XII of the Letters Patent is a procedural requirement invoked when a part of the cause of the action arises outside the territorial jurisdiction of that particular high court. These permissions become mandatory for the court to entertain a suit despite having jurisdictional limitations.