New Delhi: A Delhi District Court has quashed an ex-parte injunction passed earlier this month that had restrained the publication of allegedly defamatory content about the Adani Group.
District Judge Ashish Aggarwal of the Rohini Courts set aside the September 6 order of the civil court, which had directed the removal of certain articles written by four journalists — Ravi Nair, Abir Dasgupta, Ayaskant Das, and Ayush Joshi.
In his order, Judge Aggarwal noted that the publications had been available in the public domain for several months and that the lower court should have granted the journalists an opportunity to be heard before directing takedown of the content. The judge held that the impugned order was not sustainable in law and allowed the appeal, while clarifying that no finding had been made on the merits of the case.
The appeal was filed by the four journalists after the civil judge’s order had led to the removal of multiple articles and online posts.
Meanwhile, a separate plea filed by journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta challenging the same gag order is pending before another judge of the Rohini Courts, who has reserved the verdict.
The gag order in question had been sought by Adani Enterprises against a number of reports and social media posts that it claimed were defamatory. The company argued that these publications were part of a campaign to malign its reputation.
The case continues to draw scrutiny given its implications for press freedom, corporate reputation, and the use of ex-parte injunctions in defamation matters.
