New Delhi: Escalating his fight against what he calls a coordinated misinformation campaign, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has approached the Bombay High Court against Meta, other social media platforms and unidentified individuals over posts and alleged AI-generated deepfake content claiming that he and his family financially benefited from India's E20 ethanol blending programme.

In his petition, Gadkari has described the allegations as fabricated, malicious and defamatory, arguing that they have caused serious damage to his reputation.

He has sought the removal of the disputed content and action against those responsible for creating and circulating it.

The minister has maintained that the claims are factually incorrect, asserting that the E20 ethanol blending programme falls under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and not the ministry headed by him.

According to the plea, several social media posts falsely portray him as the architect of the programme while alleging that his family received financial gains from it.

Calling the accusations 'false, malicious and grossly defamatory without an iota of truth', the plea also alleges that AI-manipulated audio and video clips were created using his likeness and voice without his consent.

The legal move comes amid renewed debate over the E20 policy, which mandates blending 20 per cent ethanol with petrol to reduce crude oil imports and cut vehicular emissions.

While some owners of vehicles manufactured before 2023 have raised concerns over compatibility with the blended fuel, Gadkari has consistently defended the policy.

Earlier this month, the Union minister challenged critics to identify even one vehicle that had suffered damage because of E20 petrol.

'There is no case of any car facing issues due to E20 petrol. Has there been any car in the country that faced issues due to the use of E20 petrol? Just name one,' he had said, according to PTI.

The High Court plea follows earlier complaints lodged in Maharashtra against several content creators accused of spreading misinformation about Gadkari. According to ANI, a complaint filed in Nagpur named YouTuber Manish Kasyap over a video uploaded on July 3, 2026, along with social media accounts including 'Desi Boys', 'Harshit Rathi' and 'Anklesh Inwati'.