Delhi High Court Restrains Activists From Publishing Defamatory Content Against Adani Enterprises

In a major relief to Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL), a Delhi court on Saturday restrained certain journalists and others from publishing unverified defamatory content against the company.

In an interim order, the court also directed the journalists and foreign-linked NGOs to remove alleged defamatory material against the firm from articles and social media posts.

The court was hearing a suit filed by the plaintiff (AEL), alleging that coordinated defamatory publications on paranjoy.in, adaniwatch.org and adanifiles.com.au, along with related posts and videos, were designed to tarnish the business group's reputation and disrupt its global operations.

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

"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 said.

It then restrained the defendants from publishing, distributing or circulating unverified, unsubstantiated and ex-facie defamatory reports about the plaintiff, allegedly tarnishing its reputation, till the next date of hearing.

"To the extent that the articles and posts are incorrect and unverified and prima facie defamatory, defendants nos 1 to 10 are also directed to expunge such defamatory material from their respective articles/social media posts/tweets, and if the same is not feasible, remove the same within five days from the date of this order," the court said.

Appearing for AEL, Advocate Vijay Aggarwal argued that unchecked dissemination of baseless allegations had not only tarnished the company's reputation but also caused incalculable damage to investors and India's global brand image. 

He stressed that the right to free speech cannot be exercised in a manner that tramples upon the equally sacrosanct right to reputation, which forms part of Article 21 of the Constitution.

The injunction also restrained the defendants from making any further unverified or unsubstantiated statements about AEL and allowed the company to notify additional links for takedown.

In case they failed to do so, the court directed intermediaries like Google, YouTube, X etc, to remove or disable access to the alleged defamatory material within 36 hours.

The court posted the matter for further proceedings on October 9.

(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)