New Delhi: A Delhi court has made a big temporary order that stops a number of journalists and foreign-linked non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from disseminating false and damaging information about Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL). The court also ordered that any text that it thought was “prima facie defamatory” be taken down from newspapers and social media posts.
Senior Civil Judge Anuj Kumar Singh made the decision in response to a lawsuit by AEL. The company said that there was a coordinated effort to post false information about them on a number of websites, such as paranjoy.in, adaniwatch.org, and adanifiles.com.au, as well as on social media and in videos. AEL said that these publications were meant to hurt the group’s reputation and get in the way of its business around the world.
The case names well-known journalists Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Ravi Nair, Abir Dasgupta, Ayaskanta Das, and Ayush Joshi, as well as foreign-linked companies like the Bob Brown Foundation, Dreamscape Network International Private Limited, Getup Limited, and Domain Directors Private Limited.
The court said there was a “prima facie case” for the plaintiff and stressed that the “balance of convenience” is also with AEL. He said that if the video keeps spreading, it might lead to a “media trial” and hurt the company’s reputation even more.
The court’s order stops the defendants from “publishing, distributing, or circulating reports that are not verified, not backed up, and are obviously defamatory.” It also tells the first 10 defendants to “remove such defamatory material” from their articles and social media posts within five days. If they can’t take them down, they have to take down all of the posts.
The order also lets AEL tell other links to be taken down. The court has told intermediaries like Google, YouTube, and X (previously Twitter) to take down or block access to the identified material within 36 hours of being notified if the defendants don’t comply.
On October 9, the case will be heard again. The Adani Group has been filing lawsuits against journalists and activists who have written negative reports about the company’s business operations for a while now. This is the most recent one.