Indian Court Orders Removal of AI-Generated Deepfake Video Targeting Modi and Adani
An Indian court ordered the Congress party and four of its leaders to remove a deepfake video from social media that falsely depicted Prime Minister Modi and industrialist Gautam Adani. Adani Enterprises filed a defamation suit after the party posted the fabricated video making false allegations against Adani on December 17, 2025.
What happened
On December 17, 2025, the Indian National Congress posted a deepfake video on X depicting a conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and industrialist Gautam Adani, with the caption 'Modi-Adani Bhai Bhai, Desh Bechkar Khai Malai' (Modi and Adani are like brothers, selling off the country and enjoying the spoils).
The video and accompanying post imputed to Adani allegations of criminal activity, corruption, land grabbing, misuse of political influence, harassment of private citizens, illegal acquisition of agricultural land, manipulation of public authorities, and engagement with criminal elements.
Reported impact
Adani Enterprises Limited filed a civil defamation suit, claiming the video and post were wholly false, fabricated, baseless and actuated by malice, and would damage its reputation and standing in society.
Index analysis
The court found the defendants' actions on social media were likely to harm the plaintiff's reputation and adversely affect his standing in society.
Governance controls
The Ahmedabad district court ordered the Indian National Congress and four of its leaders—Jairam Ramesh, Supriya Shrinate, Pawan Khera and Uday Bhanu Chib—to remove the deepfake video within 48 hours, and directed X Corp and Google LLP to take down the content within 72 hours.
The court issued a show cause notice to the defendants returnable on December 29, and granted the plaintiff liberty to approach intermediaries under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 for takedown action in case of non-compliance.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.