Page 2 - Bombay High Court

HC to hear Gadkari's plea against Meta, others over AI deepfakes on Aug 5

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

Bombay HC clears Gadkari's ₹11 crore defamation suit over alleged deepfakes

High Court permits Union minister to file civil suit against Meta, Google, X and unidentified persons over allegedly fabricated social media posts

Bombay HC permits Gadkari to sue Meta, X, others over defamatory deepfakes

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

Bombay HC cancels Shiv Sena corporator's bail in doctors assault case

Ramesh Mhatre has been asked to surrender by 5 pm on Sunday, July 19

Plea before SC seeks CBI probe into 'KG Basin gas extraction' by Reliance

The petitioner has challenged the High Court's refusal to order a CBI investigation into allegations that Reliance Industries extracted gas from an adjoining ONGC block

SC reserves verdict on Centre's plea against relief to Sunil Biyani

The Supreme Court questioned the legal basis of the Bombay High Court's interim protection to Future Group director Sunil Biyani in a GST investigation after holding his plea premature

Bombay HC sets aside ACB order directing FIR against former Sebi officials

The Bombay High Court has quashed an ACB court order directing registration of an FIR against former Sebi officials, citing the absence of a cognisable offence

Anil Ambani gets protection from coercive action in 'tax evasion' case

The Bombay High Court has granted interim protection from prosecution and penalty to industrialist Anil Ambani in an alleged tax evasion case, while admitting his petition challenging the constitutional validity of provisions of the Black Money Act. Ambani, in his plea, said certain provisions of the (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, were "ultra vires" (beyond the powers/violative) to the Constitution of India. A bench of Justices B P Colabawalla and Firdosh Pooniwalla on Tuesday noted that there are other petitions filed in HC against the Act and admitted Ambani's plea, which will be taken up for final hearing in due course. The court directed the Union government to file its affidavit in response to the plea. The HC noted that an assessment order against Ambani has already been passed and that he has filed an appeal before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals). "The said appeal can proceed and orders can be passed thereon. However, we ..

HC rejects Lilavati Trust's restraint plea against HDFC Bank, imposes costs

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday dismissed an interim plea filed by the medical trust that runs Lilavati Hospital here, seeking to restrain the HDFC Bank, its Managing Director and CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan and others from making any defamatory remarks against the trust and its members. The Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust had filed the interim application in a defamation suit seeking Rs 1,000 crore damages from the bank, alleging that it and its senior executives had allegedly released statements to the media and also on its social media platforms that were defamatory and harmed the reputation of the trust. A bench of Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan, while dismissing the application, however, noted that the statements were not defamatory and were in fact factually accurate. The court also imposed a cost of Rs 5 lakh on the trust, which would have to be paid to the HDFC Bank, while noting that the application was just another plea in the long chain of proceedings initiated by the .

Relief for Airtel, Vi as Bombay High Court quashes OTSC spectrum levy

Bombay High Court quashed the DoT's one-time spectrum charge, offering major relief to Airtel and Vodafone Idea in a decade-old ₹20,000 crore dispute

HDFC AMC gets HC relief in cyber theft case; injunction against hackers

The Bombay High Court has granted temporary injunction against a ransomware group identifying itself as "Morpheus" from distributing or disclosing confidential data exfiltrated by it from the HFDC Asset Management Company. A vacation bench of Justice Shreeram Shirsat, in the order passed on May 29, said prima facie an arguable case was made out to grant interim relief. "If the confidential data is misused or leaked or traded or compromised, it will lead to dreadful consequences and it can cause irreparable and irreversible damage to the plaintiff company," the court said. Apart from the injunction against the ransomware group from using, distributing or disclosing the confidential data, the court also directed the Union government to take all steps necessary to remove, delete, block and disable accounts in relation to the stolen confidential data. The order was passed on an application and suit filed by HDFC Asset Management Company Limited seeking an injunction against the hackers

Charity Commissioner stops today's Tata Trusts meet, orders inspection

The Commissioner's Office has warned Tata Trusts that any other appropriate orders can be issued to prevent further violation of rules and protect interest of the public trust and its beneficiaries

Bombay HC restrains Berger Paints ad, flags meme for disparagement

The Bombay High Court restrained circulation of a Berger Paints advertisement after observing that it prima facie crossed into disparagement of Asian Paints

No parity between Agniveers, regular soldiers on pensionary benefits: Govt

The Union government has informed the Bombay High Court that Agniveers are not "similarly situated" as regular soldiers and hence, cannot claim parity in pensionary benefits for their next of kin in the event of death in action. In an affidavit filed last week against a petition by the mother of a deceased Agniveer, the Centre argued that the differentiation is constitutionally valid, as the Agnipath scheme is a short-term engagement designed for present-day national security needs. The government filed its affidavit in response to a petition by Jyotibai Naik, mother of Agniveer Murali Naik, who was killed in cross-border shelling in Jammu & Kashmir during Operation Sindoor in May last year, seeking benefits similar to those of regular soldiers. The petition, filed last year through advocates Sandesh More, Hemant Ghadigaonkar and Hitendra Gandh, stated that the Centre's Agnipath scheme creates an "arbitrary" distinction between Agniveers and regular soldiers, and questioned the ...

Tata Trusts defers board meeting till May 16 amid concerns over veto powers

The top agenda for friday's meeting was a review of tata trusts representation for nominee directors on the tata sons board

HC refuses urgent hearing on plea against Tata Trusts board meeting today

The Bombay High Court asked the petitioner to move the vacation bench if urgent relief was needed in the case challenging Sir Ratan Tata Trust's life trustees

Bombay HC upholds acquittal of 22 in Sohrabuddin 'fake' encounter case

The Bombay High Court on Thursday upheld the acquittal of the 22 accused in the 2005 case of the alleged fake encounter of gangster Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife Kausar Bi and his aide Tulsiram Prajapati. A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad dismissed the appeals filed by Shaikh's brothers, Rubabuddin and Nayabuddin, challenging the December 2018 judgment of a special court acquitting all the accused in the case. Among the 22 accused acquitted, 21 were junior-level officers from Gujarat and Rajasthan police, who were allegedly part of the teams that abducted the three and later killed them in staged encounters. The remaining one accused was the owner of a farmhouse in Gujarat, where Shaikh and Kausar Bi were allegedly illegally detained before they were killed. A detailed copy of the judgment would be made available later. The special court, while acquitting the accused, had observed that the prosecution failed to establish a cogent case to sugges

Bombay HC quashes Lilavati Trust bribery case against HDFC Bank CEO

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday quashed a bribery case against HDFC Bank MD and CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan filed by the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, calling the complaint a "counterblast" to the bank's recovery proceedings to reclaim dues of over Rs 65 crore. A division bench of Justices M S Karnik and N R Borkar stated that financial institutions are bound to initiate proceedings for recovery of loan amounts, and observed that the complaint was a result of the acrimony and strained relations between the Trust's past and present trustees. Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust runs Lilavati Hospital in Bandra. "In our view, the complaint is nothing but a counterblast to the recovery proceedings initiated, and the materials on record do not at all justify an investigation into the claim made by the complainant," the court said. It also refused to accept the complainant's claim that the Trust's founder, Kishore Mehta, died in 2024 because of pressure mounted by the bank and sa

JioStar moves Bombay High Court against CCI order in broadcast dispute

JioStar moves Bombay High Court, challenging CCI's jurisdiction in Asianet dispute, arguing the matter falls under TRAI's regulatory domain

Bombay HC grants RoDTEP relief to sugar firms, flags litigation chaos

The Bombay High Court allowed RoDTEP benefits to sugar exporters and flagged inconsistent litigation by the Centre, calling for a National Litigation Policy to ensure uniformity