India, July 27 -- The Bombay High Court has granted Union minister Nitin Gadkari permission to institute a civil suit against Meta, Google, X and other entities over the alleged circulation of AI-generated deepfakes and defamatory social media content linking him to the Centre's E20 fuel programme.

According to a Bar & Bench report, the court granted Gadkari leave under Clause XII of the Letters Patent, a procedural requirement that allows the Bombay High Court to hear a matter when part of the cause of action arises outside its territorial jurisdiction.

Gadkari argued that while the disputed content was available across the internet, it was also accessible to users in Mumbai, giving the Bombay High Court jurisdiction to hear the matter...