The Bombay High Court grants Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari leave to file a civil suit against Meta, Google and X over allegedly defamatory AI-generated deepfakes and social media posts connected to India’s E20 petrol ethanol-blend fuel policy. Gadkari argues that content circulating online falsely links him and his family to alleged benefits or profits from the E20 programme, even though he says he has no role in formulating, implementing or administering the policy, which is run by the Petroleum Ministry. Reports say Gadkari approached the court claiming the posts are publicly available and defamatory, and that the lawsuit targets the platforms along with other entities described as “John Doe” or unknown creators/disseminators that may have hosted or enabled the content. The court’s order permits Gadkari to proceed with a substantive civil action on the original side of the High Court. The E20 policy, which involves blending 20% ethanol in petrol, remains a subject of public debate, with some vehicle owners raising concerns about its use, while Gadkari has previously expressed support for ethanol blending and challenged critics to identify specific car issues attributed to the fuel.