Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari cleared a procedural hurdle on Monday, 27 July, to sue Meta Platforms, X Corp and Google over social media posts and alleged deepfakes that he says falsely link him and his family to financial gains from India’s ethanol-blending program.

Justice Abhay Ahuja of the Bombay High Court granted Gadkari permission to institute the civil suit under Clause XII of the court’s Letters Patent. The provision applies when part of a dispute arises beyond the court’s territorial jurisdiction. Gadkari argued that the contested material was accessible in Mumbai even though it was published more widely online.

The order does not decide whether the posts are defamatory, whether the videos are deepfakes or whether the platforms bear legal responsibility for them. No takedown direction has yet been issued. Gadkari’s request for interim relief, including a temporary injunction, will be considered separately.

His proposed suit names Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram; X, Google and YouTube, as well as unidentified users accused of creating or circulating the material. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Department of Telecommunications have also been named.

Gadkari has identified at least 24 posts, videos and other pieces of online content. He is seeking permanent and mandatory injunctions requiring their removal or disabling, an order against further circulation and ₹11 crore, or about $1.1 million, in damages.

The case is likely to be placed before Justice Arif Doctor, according to LiveLaw. A detailed order on Monday’s procedural application had not been published at the time of writing.

Suit draws a line around criticism

The disputed material allegedly portrays Gadkari as personally responsible for the Ethanol Blended Petrol Program and claims that companies connected to his family benefited from the move to E20, a blend of 20% ethanol and 80% petrol.

Gadkari says those claims create a false impression that he used public office for private gain. His filing alleges defamation, unauthorized use of his likeness and voice, and infringement of his personality and publicity rights.

The suit says it is not intended to restrain legitimate debate over E20 or Gadkari’s record in government.

“The purpose and object of filing the suit is not to curtail or prevent the public at large from engaging in discussion, debate, analysis or fair, just and bona fide criticism,” the plea said. It argues that fabricated statements, deepfakes and abusive allegations fall outside that protection.

That distinction will be central when the court considers interim relief. Some posts may contain manipulated audio or video, while others may express opinions, raise questions about possible conflicts or criticise the fuel mandate.

A single removal request covering different forms of content will require the court to examine them individually rather than treating all opposition to E20 as misinformation.

Gadkari’s role is more complicated

Gadkari’s filing says the blending program is administered exclusively by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and that he has no role in its policymaking. The Petroleum Ministry oversees ethanol procurement, blending targets and the program’s implementation through state-owned oil companies.

His own ministry does, however, have a related regulatory role. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways notified mass-emission standards for E20 in 2021 and required manufacturers to identify the ethanol blends with which their vehicles are compatible. Gadkari has also been one of the government’s most visible advocates of ethanol and flex-fuel vehicles.

India began testing ethanol blending more than two decades ago and brought forward its target for a 20% blend from 2030 to the 2025-26 ethanol supply year. E20 became the standard petrol sold at the country’s roughly 90,000 fuel stations by the end of 2025.

The policy is meant to reduce oil imports and emissions while creating a market for ethanol made from sugarcane, maize, damaged grain and other feedstocks. The government says payments to farmers under the program had exceeded ₹1.25 trillion by July 2025 and foreign-exchange savings had crossed ₹1.44 trillion.

Motorists have raised concerns over lower mileage, the compatibility of older vehicles and the absence of a widely available choice between E20 and lower-ethanol petrol.

The government accepts that vehicles designed for E10 may suffer a fuel-efficiency loss of about 3% to 5% when using E20. It says testing and service records show no verified pattern of widespread engine failures, corrosion or abnormal wear caused by the blend.

Parliament was also informed on Monday that the government had not assessed how many vehicles on Indian roads were fully E20-compatible.

The Petroleum Ministry nevertheless said more than 200 million two-wheelers and 30 million petrol cars had operated on blends of at least 15% ethanol without evidence of widespread damage attributable to the fuel.

The government has ruled out returning regular petrol to E10 or an ethanol-free blend and says it has no current plan to raise the nationwide mandate beyond 20%.

India’s intermediary rules require platforms to disable unlawful material within three hours after receiving an order from a competent court or a properly authorized government notice.