Bombay HC Allows Nitin Gadkari To Sue Meta, Google, X Over Circulation Of Deepfakes
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The Bombay High Court has granted Union minister Nitin Gadkari permission to institute a civil suit against Meta, Google, X and other entities over the alleged circulation of AI-generated deepfakes and defamatory social media content linking him to the Centre’s E20 fuel programme.
According to a Bar & Bench report, the court granted Gadkari leave under Clause XII of the Letters Patent, a procedural requirement that allows the Bombay High Court to hear a matter when part of the cause of action arises outside its territorial jurisdiction.
Gadkari argued that while the disputed content was available across the internet, it was also accessible to users in Mumbai, giving the Bombay High Court jurisdiction to hear the matter.
The proposed suit alleges that unknown persons circulated AI-generated videos, social media posts, reels and other content falsely portraying Gadkari as personally responsible for the government’s E20 fuel programme and claiming that he and his family had financially benefited from it.
Gadkari has maintained that the ethanol blending programme is administered by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and that the allegations are false and defamatory.
According to the suit, the content used AI-generated versions of Gadkari’s name, image, likeness, facial features and voice without his consent, causing “grave and irreparable” harm to his reputation, goodwill, and personality rights.
Besides Meta, Google, X, and YouTube, the suit also includes the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), and unidentified content creators as John Doe defendants.
The suit said that the legal action is not intended to suppress legitimate criticism or public debate. Gadkari argued that the suit targets allegedly false, malicious, and defamatory content that crosses the line from fair criticism into unlawful speech.
The case is among the latest legal challenges involving AI-generated deepfakes in India and could add to the debate around the responsibility of social media platforms in tackling manipulated content, impersonation, and AI-enabled disinformation.
Gadkari’s move comes amid a spate of legal action over AI-generated deepfakes. Last week, Union minister Piyush Goyal also filed a police complaint after alleging that his remarks outside Parliament were maliciously altered using AI and circulated as a deepfake to spread misinformation.
The Centre has, meanwhile, stepped up its scrutiny of AI-generated and deepfake content on social media. MeitY has issued multiple advisories directing intermediaries to curb the spread of unlawful, abusive, defamatory and misleading AI-generated content, warning that non-compliance could jeopardise their safe harbour protections under the Information Technology Act.
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