Bombay HC Allows Nitin Gadkari to Sue Meta, X and Google Over E20 Posts

The Bombay High Court in Mumbai on Monday allowed Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari to file a civil defamation suit against Meta Platforms, X Corp, Google LLC, and other social media platforms. The suit concerns posts and AI-generated deepfake videos that allegedly falsely linked Gadkari and his family members to India’s ethanol-blended petrol (EBP) programme.

A single-judge bench of Justice Abhay Ahuja granted permission to file the suit, enabling the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader to seek interim relief, including a temporary injunction against the allegedly defamatory content. Gadkari had approached the court through a leave petition because several defendants are located outside the Bombay High Court's territorial jurisdiction.

According to the petition filed through advocate Sandeep S Ladda, the social media posts falsely suggested that Gadkari and his family received undue financial benefits from the ethanol-blending programme. The petition stated that the posts insinuated corruption, nepotism, conflict of interest, abuse of official position, misuse of governmental authority, and other acts of impropriety.

The minister argued that the content is ex facie false, fabricated, baseless, malicious, misleading, unsubstantiated, and devoid of any factual foundation. The petition noted that the content includes abusive, vulgar, and derogatory language, scandalous remarks, false accusations, and manipulated audio-visual material intended to falsely attribute statements and conduct to Gadkari. Through the suit, Gadkari is seeking ₹11 crore in damages.

The legal action comes amid social media backlash over the central government’s ethanol-blended petrol programme, which was introduced in 2014 to reduce crude oil imports and accelerated from 2021 using ethanol produced from sugarcane, rice, and maize. India achieved its target of 20% ethanol blending five years ahead of its original 2030 deadline.

While motorists have complained that E20 fuel reduces mileage and causes engine corrosion in older, non-compliant vehicles, Gadkari and the central government have dismissed these claims as social media misinformation. The controversy has also brought attention to businesses run by Gadkari’s sons, Nikhil and Sarang Gadkari, who entered ethanol production after the government expanded the programme. Gadkari has maintained that their companies account for only a negligible share of India’s total ethanol production.

Gadkari approached the high court after Shishir Arun Tripathi, the convener of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Nagpur social media cell, lodged a police complaint last month regarding circulating videos and posts containing objectionable claims about the Union minister and E20 fuel.