New Delhi: In a major interim relief for Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL), a Delhi court on Saturday restrained a group of journalists, activists, and organisations with overseas links from publishing or circulating allegedly unverified and defamatory material against the company.
The interim injunction came while hearing a defamation suit filed by AEL. Senior Civil Judge Anuj Kumar Singh directed the defendants to remove contentious content already uploaded on websites and social media platforms within a stipulated period.
Allegations of Coordinated Campaign
According to the lawsuit, AEL alleged that certain coordinated publications including material on paranjoy.in, adaniwatch.org, and adanifiles.com.au—along with related videos and social media posts, were deliberately aimed at discrediting the company and disrupting its global business operations.
The defendants named include journalists Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Ravi Nair, Abir Dasgupta, Ayaskanta Das, Ayush Joshi, several organisations such as the Bob Brown Foundation, Dreamscape Network International Pvt Ltd, Getup Limited, Domain Directors Pvt Ltd (trading as Instra), and unidentified “John Doe” individuals.
AEL’s counsel Vijay Aggarwal argued that unchecked dissemination of such allegations had severely harmed the company’s reputation and caused irreversible losses to investors. He added that no regulatory authority or court had ever found the company guilty, and despite intense scrutiny in 2023, AEL had cleared its name and regained investor trust.
Court Observations
The court noted that the disputed content had the potential to damage the company’s balance sheet, disrupt projects, erode investor wealth running into billions, cause panic in the market, and harm its global credibility—impacting both present and future business prospects.
Finding a prima facie case in favour of AEL, the court said: “Continual forwarding, publishing, re-tweeting, and trolling would further damage the plaintiff’s image in public perception and may result in a media trial.”
Accordingly, the court restrained the defendants from publishing or circulating “unverified, unsubstantiated and ex-facie defamatory reports” against the company until the next hearing.
Removal Directions Issued
The order further instructed defendants to expunge defamatory material from their articles, posts, or tweets, and if not feasible, to remove them within five days. Intermediaries hosting such content were also directed to comply within 36 hours of notification, as per the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules.
The injunction also prevents the defendants from making any further unverified or baseless statements about AEL. The company has been allowed to notify additional links for removal in case more defamatory content surfaces.
Clarification by the Court
However, the court clarified that its ruling does not impose a blanket restriction on genuine reporting. “This order shall not restrain any person from reporting on investigations and court proceedings, provided such reporting is fair, accurate, and based on verified and substantiated material,” it said.
The matter has been posted for further hearing on October 9.
With PTI Inputs