Delhi Court Restrains Journalists, Activists from Publishing Defamatory Content Against Adani Enterprises

A Delhi court has granted an interim injunction against several journalists and organisations for publishing unverified defamatory content about Adani Enterprises Limited. The court's decision aims to protect the company's reputation amid ongoing legal proceedings.

New Delhi, Sep 6 - In a significant legal development, a Delhi court has issued an interim injunction restraining several journalists, activists, and foreign-linked organizations from publishing or circulating unverified and allegedly defamatory content against Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL).

The order, passed by Senior Civil Judge Anuj Kumar Singh, came in response to a suit filed by AEL alleging a coordinated campaign aimed at maligning its reputation through articles, videos, and social media posts hosted on platforms such as paranjoy.in, adaniwatch.org, and adanifiles.com.au. The defendants named in the suit include journalists Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Ravi Nair, Abir Dasgupta, Ayaskanta Das, Ayush Joshi, and organizations such as the Bob Brown Foundation, Dreamscape Network International Pvt Ltd, Getup Ltd, Domain Directors Pvt Ltd (trading as Instra), along with unnamed individuals referred to as "John Doe".

"There is a prima facie case in favour of the plaintiff. Even the balance of convenience lies in the favour of the plaintiff, considering that continual forwarding/publishing/re-tweeting and trolling would further tarnish his image in public perception and may result in a media trial," the court observed.

The court directed the defendants to expunge any defamatory material from their respective platforms and social media handles. If removal is not feasible, they have been ordered to take down such content within five days of the order. Additionally, the court empowered AEL to notify further links for takedown. Should the defendants fail to comply, intermediaries including Google, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter) have been instructed to disable access to the identified content within 36 hours.

The matter has been scheduled for further hearing on October 9.