A District Court in Delhi has set aside a prior judicial order that had restrained several journalists from publishing allegedly defamatory content against Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL). The court ruled that the initial gag order was “not sustainable” because the defendant journalists were not given an opportunity to be heard before it was passed.
The case pertains to a defamation suit filed by Adani Enterprises Limited against journalists Ravi Nair, Abir Dasgupta, Ayaskant Das, and Ayush Joshi. On September 6, a lower court had passed an ex-parte ad-interim injunction, effectively barring the journalists from publishing specific content related to AEL. Following this directive, takedown notices were reportedly issued by intermediaries like YouTube and government authorities to the journalists and other content creators.
The four journalists subsequently filed an appeal challenging the injunction. In his ruling on the appeal, District Judge Ashish Aggarwal observed that passing such a restrictive order without providing the defendants a hearing was improper. He noted that allowing the order to stand would create a situation where plaintiffs could unfairly compel intermediaries to remove content without the defendants having a chance to present their case, thereby bypassing due process.
The initial September 6 directive had drawn criticism from press freedom advocates. The Editors Guild of India had expressed significant concerns over the order, highlighting its potential to stifle investigative journalism and freedom of speech.
While this appeal by the four journalists has been successful, a separate challenge to the same injunction, filed by senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, remains pending before the court.
