The cyber police in Nagpur have registered an FIR in the case of social media influencers Sanil Shukla, Mohd. Qasim Khan, Nitesh Khan, and Manish Kashyap over alleged acts of defaming Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, in relation to the E20 fuel policy controversy.
BJP’s social media cell city president Shishir Tripathi made a complaint to the Nagpur City Cyber Police Station. Apart from Kashyap, the FIR also names Instagram account Desi Boys (desi_boysncr), and influencers Harshit Rathi and Anklesh Invate.
The complaint alleges that Kashyap posted a vlog on YouTube on July 3 on a subject that contains “misinformation” on E20 fuel that was designed to confuse the public and hurt Gadkari’s reputation. It states that the other three influencers abused the name of the Union minister during the discussions about ethanol-blended fuel in the presence of the purpose of leaving false information and thereby disturbing the public order.
The police is filing the case at the following sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS): Sections 356, 352 and 296, and Information Technology Act Section 67.
The FIR comes at a time when there is an ongoing public discourse regarding the government’s policy to promote E20 fuel, which is a mixture of 80% petrol and 20% ethanol. Ethanol blending is a solution led by Nitin Gadkari to curb imports of crude oil, cut emissions and drive up farmers’ income, he has always been supportive of it.
But other people say that the use of E20 fuel could lead to lower engine efficiency and should not be used in older cars. The fuel is still considered as safe for compatible vehicles for the government and will be a major component of India’s energy transition strategy.