A Delhi court has lifted the gag order restraining journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta from reporting on Adani Enterprises. The trial court has been asked to hear the case and pass fresh orders.
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday lifted the gag order that had been imposed by a civil court on journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, restraining him from reporting on Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL).
District Judge Sunil Chaudhary stated that Thakurta will not be required to follow the previous gag order until the senior civil judge hears his appeal and issues a fresh order. The judge directed the civil judge of the trial court to hear the case on September 26 at 2 PM.
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“Needless to say that Ld. trial court while passing the fresh orders on the application under Order 39 Rule 1 and 2 CPC will consider the principles of law settled qua the grant of interim injunction.
The appeal is disposed off accordingly and the appellant will not be liable to follow the order dated 06.09.2025 till fresh orders are passed by the court of Ld. Senior Civil Judge upon hearing him,” the court said.
The original gag order had been issued on September 6 by Senior Civil Judge Anuj Kumar Singh of the Rohini Court.
The order had directed the removal of content deemed defamatory against AEL and had also asked the journalists to refrain from publishing unverified or defamatory information about the company.
The injunction had initially applied to five named journalists as well as John Doe defendants, representing unknown individuals.
Earlier, an appeal filed by journalists Ravi Nair, Abir Dasgupta, Ayaskant Das, and Ayush Joshi against a similar order was allowed by Judge Ashish Aggarwal on September 18.
Thakurta’s appeal was heard by Judge Chaudhary over two days, after which the judge reserved his orders on September 24.
Notably, the injunction issued by the civil court has also been challenged by the digital news platform Newslaundry.
Both Newslaundry and journalist Ravish Kumar have contested the Central government’s orders to take down allegedly defamatory content, which had been issued following the court’s injunction.
The case originated when Adani Enterprises filed a defamation suit before the civil court. The company alleged that certain journalists, activists, and organisations had harmed its reputation, causing massive financial losses and damaging the company’s image, brand value, and even India’s national reputation.
Adani Enterprises argued that these journalists and activists had
“aligned with anti-India interests and have been continuously targeting Adani Enterprises’ infrastructure and energy projects which are critical to India’s infrastructure and energy security and have disrupted these projects with ulterior motives”.
AEL referred to articles published on websites such as paranjoy.in, adaniwatch.org, and adanifiles.com.au, claiming that these platforms repeatedly published defamatory content against the company, the Adani Group, and its founder and chairman Gautam Adani.
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After reviewing the submissions, the civil court had ruled that AEL had made a prima facie case for the grant of an interim injunction. This decision led to the appeal before the district judge.
Advocates Apar Gupta, Indumugi C, and Naman Kumar represented Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.
Senior Advocate Jagdeep Sharma, along with advocates Vijay Aggarwal, Naman Joshi, Ayush Jindal, RK Gossain, Verdaan Jain, Mukul Rathore, Rajat Jain, Rahul, Pragati Gupta, Kartikay Sharma, and Shreya, appeared on behalf of Adani Enterprises Limited.
Case Title:
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta v Adani Enterprises Limited
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