What will happen in 24 hrs? Court declines urgent hearing in Adani gag order challenge

A Delhi court on Wednesday turned down journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta’s request for an urgent hearing against an injunction that restrains him from publishing alleged defamatory material on Gautam Adani’s Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL).

District Judge Rakesh Kumar Singh of the Rohini Court said the injunction order was passed on September 6, and the matter can be heard on September 18 (Thursday) instead of today.

“It will be heard tomorrow at 10 am,” the judge said, questioning the urgency in the matter. He asked whether it was a “life and death situation” if Thakurta did not publish for two days, or whether the journalist’s work being taken down would cause irreparable harm.

Senior advocate Trideep Pais, representing Thakurta, countered that the restraining order was excessively broad and had been passed without giving him a chance to be heard.

He pointed out that the order failed to identify which specific content was defamatory or false, adding that it was the responsibility of both the plaintiff and the court to establish this before granting an injunction.

On the other side, senior advocate Anurag Ahluwalia, appearing for AEL, maintained that there was no urgency in the matter and supported the court’s decision to schedule the hearing for the following day.

The gag order in question was issued on September 6 by Senior Civil Judge Anuj Kumar Singh, who directed the removal of allegedly defamatory content against AEL and restrained five journalists, including Thakurta, Ravi Nair, Abir Dasgupta, Ayaskant Das and Ayush Joshi, from publishing unverified or defamatory reports about the company.

The journalists have challenged the order through separate petitions. Thakurta’s plea came up on Wednesday, while the others are expected to be heard on Thursday. In their filings, the journalists argued that their reports did not mention Adani Enterprises by name, but only referred to Gautam Adani or the Adani Group.

Thakurta has specifically argued that the court’s order was overly sweeping and did not clarify which articles or URLs were considered defamatory.

In its defamation suit, AEL alleged that certain journalists, activists and organisations had caused immense damage to its reputation, wiping out billions in shareholder value and undermining India’s global standing. The company accused them of working in alignment with “anti-India interests” and deliberately targeting its infrastructure and energy projects that are critical for the country’s security.

The company cited articles on websites such as paranjoy.in, adaniwatch.org and adanifiles.com.au, claiming they repeatedly published defamatory content against AEL, the Adani Group and its founder Gautam Adani.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had directed several digital platforms and journalists to take down posts and videos on industrialist Gautam Adani’s Adani Enterprises, acting on a Delhi court order passed on September 6.

A total of 138 YouTube links and 83 Instagram posts were ordered to be removed. The material included investigative reports, satirical content and even incidental references to the Adani Group. Those served with notices include news websites Newslaundry, The Wire and HW News, along with journalists Thakurta, Ajit Anjum and Ravish Kumar. Satirist Akash Banerjee and content creator Dhruv Rathee were also named.

Copies of the directive have been sent to Google and Meta, the parent companies of YouTube and Instagram.