Bombay HC Adjourns Nitin Gadkari's Plea on Deepfake Content

The Bombay High Court has adjourned the hearing on Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's civil suit seeking the removal of allegedly defamatory deepfake and AI-generated content. The hearing has been scheduled for August 5.

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.

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.

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.

Gadkari has said the case is not intended to suppress public debate or criticism, but rather to address the false and defamatory content.

The purpose of filing the suit is to protect Gadkari's personality rights, which have been unlawfully exploited through the use of deepfake technology without his consent or authorisation.

The case highlights the growing concern of deepfake content and its potential to harm individuals' reputations.

The Bombay High Court's decision will be crucial in determining the fate of Gadkari's plea and the future of deepfake content regulation in India.

The outcome of this case will have significant implications for individuals and organizations seeking to protect their reputation from false and defamatory content online.