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Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has approached the Bombay High Court against social media posts linking him and his family to alleged E20-related business gains.
According to Gadkari's lawsuit filed in the Bombay High Court, the disputed content on social media includes posts, deepfake pictures and videos, among others, allegedly linking him and his family to profits from the E20 ethanol blending programme. The lawsuit filed by him also emphasises that the ethanol blending policy is being administered by the Petroleum Ministry. The Bombay High Court has allowed Gadkari to file a civil suit against Meta and other social media platforms, as well as unidentified entities allegedly being used to spread misinformation against Gadkari and his family. The development comes amid growing public scrutiny over ethanol-blended fuel, particularly E20 petrol, following claims on social media that the higher ethanol blend had caused performance issues and damage in some vehicles. Meanwhile, automakers and government-backed testing agencies have maintained that vehicles certified for E20 are designed and tested to safely use the fuel, while attributing isolated cases of vehicle issues to factors such as fuel contamination and maintenance-related concerns rather than the ethanol blend itself. The Centre has been promoting higher ethanol blending in petrol as part of its broader strategy to reduce the country's dependence on crude oil imports, lower carbon emissions and support domestic production of ethanol from sugarcane and grain-based feedstocks. (ANI)
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