Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], December 19 (ANI): An Ahmedabad court in Gujarat has directed the Congress party and four of its senior leaders to remove an allegedly 'deepfake' and defamatory video featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi and industrialist Gautam Adani from social media platforms, observing that its continued circulation is likely to cause serious and irreparable reputational harm.

The ad-interim order was passed on December 18 by the court of Additional Civil Judge Shrikant Sharma while hearing a civil defamation suit filed by Adani Enterprises Limited. The court directed Congress and its leaders Jairam Ramesh, Supriya Shrinate, Pawan Khera and Uday Bhanu Chib to take down the impugned video from all portals, platforms and digital media within 48 hours of the order.

The video in question was uploaded on the Congress party's official X (formerly Twitter) handle on December 17. It purported to show a conversation between Prime Minister Modi and Gautam Adani, accompanied by the caption 'Modi-Adani Bhai Bhai, Desh Bechkar Khai Malai' (Modi and Adani are like brothers, selling the country and enjoying the spoils).

According to the plaintiff, the video is a deepfake and contains false and malicious imputations suggesting criminal activity, corruption, misuse of political influence and other serious allegations against the Adani Group and its promoter. Adani Enterprises argued that the content was fabricated, baseless and deliberately circulated to damage the reputation and goodwill painstakingly built over decades.

After perusing the plaint, application and documentary material placed on record, the court noted that the impugned content, circulated widely on social media, prima facie contained defamatory statements capable of tarnishing the reputation and standing of the plaintiff in society.

The court observed that the Adani Group comprises multiple publicly listed companies with a pan-India and global presence, and that unchecked circulation of such content could mislead the public and stakeholders and cause lasting harm.

Relying on Supreme Court precedents, including Khushwant Singh v. Maneka Gandhi, Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund v. Kartick Das and Subramanian Swamy v. Union of India, the court reiterated that while injunctions in defamation matters are to be granted sparingly, courts are empowered to intervene in exceptional cases where the material is manifestly defamatory, patently untrue and likely to result in irreparable injury. The right to reputation, the court noted, is a facet of Article 21 of the Constitution.

Granting partial relief, the court ordered that the impugned video must remain removed until the next date of hearing, fixed for December 29, 2025. Importantly, the court also directed that if the Congress party and its leaders fail to comply within 48 hours, social media intermediaries X Corp and Google, arrayed as defendants, shall take down the content within 72 hours.

The court further granted liberty to the plaintiff to approach the concerned intermediaries under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, in the event of non-compliance, reinforcing the regulatory framework governing online platforms.

The order forms part of an ex parte ad interim injunction under Order XXXIX, Rules 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, aimed at preventing further dissemination of the disputed content while the defamation suit is pending adjudication. The court emphasised that reputational harm, once caused through viral digital content, cannot be adequately compensated by monetary damages and therefore warrants immediate preventive relief in appropriate cases.

The matter will be taken up next on December 29, when the defendants have been directed to respond and show cause as to why the interim relief should not be continued. (ANI)