Court sets aside order asking journalists to take down content against Adani enterprises

NEW DELHI: A Delhi district court on Thursday set aside an order asking four journalists to take down alleged defamatory content against Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL).

District Judge Ashish Aggarwal allowed a plea filed by four journalists, Ravi Nair, Abir Dasgupta, Ayaskanta Das and Ayush Joshi, challenging an order restraining them from publishing or circulating alleged unverified and defamatory content against Adani Enterprises Limited.

The court was hearing the appeal filed by the four journalists against a civil judge’s September 6 order.

Acting on AEL’s defamation, the civil judge directed 10 defendants, including the four journalists, to take down the contentious material already published on various platforms, including websites, articles and social media posts, within a stipulated period.

The district court, however, observed the civil judge should have provided an opportunity to the defendants before passing the order, pointing out that the provisions of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) weren’t kept in mind.

“The impugned order is not sustainable. I allow the appeal and set aside the impugned order without any finding on the merits of the case,” Judge Aggarwal said.

The matter was then remanded to a court for a fresh decision after both sides

were heard.

A detailed order is awaited.

Meanwhile, a different court reserved its order on the appeal filed by journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta who sought a similar relief.

The defendants in the case are Guha Thakurta, Nair, Dasgupta, Das, Joshi, Bob Brown Foundation, Dreamscape Network International Private Limited, Getup Limited, Domain Directors Private Limited trading as Instra and John Doe parties.