The Bombay High Court on Monday granted Union Minister Nitin Gadkari permission to institute a civil suit against the circulation of allegedly defamatory and AI-generated deepfake content about him on the internet.

Justice Abhay Ahuja allowed Gadkari's application seeking leave under Clause XII of the Letters Patent, a procedural requirement that permits the High Court to entertain a suit on its original civil side when only part of the cause of action arises within its territorial jurisdiction.

Appearing for Gadkari, Advocate Sandeep S. Ladda argued that the impugned content has been made publicly available online and is accessible to users in Mumbai, bringing a substantial part of the cause of action within the Bombay High Court's jurisdiction. At the same time, since the material is also accessible outside Mumbai through internet platforms, leave under Clause XII was necessary before filing the suit.

After hearing the submissions, Justice Ahuja granted permission to file the suit. A detailed copy of the order is awaited.

The order clears the way for Gadkari to institute a substantive civil suit on the original side of the High Court against Meta, X Corp, Google LLC, YouTube, government authorities, and unidentified persons allegedly responsible for creating or circulating the disputed content.

According to the proposed suit, Gadkari has been falsely portrayed through social media posts, videos, reels, tweets and AI-generated deepfakes as being personally responsible for the government's ethanol blending programme and E20 fuel policy. The content allegedly further claims that Gadkari and his family derived financial benefits from the policy.

Gadkari has asserted that these allegations are entirely false, malicious and defamatory, contending that they were designed to create the false impression that he misused his public office for personal gain. He claims the material has caused serious damage to his reputation, goodwill, dignity and personality rights.

The suit seeks permanent and mandatory injunctions directing the removal of the allegedly defamatory and deepfake content. It also targets AI-manipulated audio and video that allegedly imitate Gadkari's voice, facial features, image and likeness without his consent.

Importantly, the plaint clarifies that the litigation is not intended to suppress fair criticism or legitimate public debate. It states that bona fide criticism based on true facts and made in good faith is not the subject of the suit. Instead, Gadkari contends that the action is directed against defamatory and fabricated content that crosses the limits of lawful free speech.

Apart from major technology companies including Meta, X Corp, Google and YouTube, the suit also names the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) as defendants. Unidentified creators and distributors of the alleged content have been impleaded as John Doe (Ashok Kumar) defendants.