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The Bombay High Court on Tuesday said it would hear on August 5 Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's suit against Meta, X Corp, Google LLC and unknown persons for "defamatory" deepfakes and AI-generated posts uploaded against him over the ethanol policy. The bench of Justice Arif Doctor directed the Union minister's advocate Sandeep Ladda to serve the respondents copies of the civil suit, seeking a permanent injunction against the circulation of posts that allegedly tarnished his reputation. Gadkari, in his plea, sought an immediate takedown of all fake and fabricated content, along with an injunction against the circulation of such content. The senior BJP leader, who is serving as the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, has claimed that several fake, AI-generated and defamatory posts were available online regarding the ethanol-blended fuel issue. Unknown persons have uploaded and circulated posts and deepfake content falsely portraying him as being personally responsible for
The Bombay High Court on Monday permitted Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to file a civil suit against Meta Platforms, X Corp, Google LLC and other unknown persons over "defamatory" deepfakes and AI-generated posts uploaded against him. The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways and senior BJP leader had filed a leave petition under Clause XII of Letters Patent, a procedural requirement wherein permission of the court is sought before filing of a suit, when part of the cause of action arises outside the territorial jurisdiction of the high court. Such leave (permission) is necessary to enable the court to hear and decide a suit despite jurisdictional limitations. Gadkari's leave petition came up for hearing on Monday before a single bench of Justice Abhay Ahuja. His lawyer Sandeep Ladda submitted that online platforms have made alleged defamatory and deepfake content publicly available, including to users in Maharashtra. Since this content is accessible here, Ladda argued that