New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday, March 16, refused to entertain a plea by journalist Ravi Nair challenging a Gujarat Crime Branch notice issued to him in connection with an article he co-authored in the Washington Post about the Adani Group, asking him instead to approach the jurisdictional High Court.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta dismissed the petition as withdrawn, granting Nair the liberty to move the Gujarat High Court.
Nair had approached the Supreme Court challenging a notice dated February 12 issued by the Crime Branch, Ahmedabad, directing him to appear in person on February 19 for a preliminary enquiry. The notice was issued in connection with an article published in Washington Post titled “India’s $3.9 billion plan to help Modi’s mogul ally after U.S. charges,” which Nair co-authored with Pranshu Verma, the then New Delhi bureau chief of the paper. The notice also referred to one of Nair’s tweets.
Senior Advocate Anand Grover, appearing for Nair, argued that Adani had initiated three separate cases against his client and that he was being “consistently harassed.” He also contended that the Crime Branch had acted without jurisdiction.
The bench, however, questioned why Nair had directly approached the Supreme Court under Article 32 instead of first exhausting the remedy before the jurisdictional High Court. When Grover responded that his client’s fundamental right to free speech was at stake, the bench remained unconvinced.
Grover then urged the court to at least grant interim protection from coercive action until Nair could approach the High Court. The bench declined that request as well, noting that the option of e-filing before the High Court was available to him.
Conviction in separate defamation case
This is not the only legal battle Nair is fighting with the Adani Group. Adani Enterprises Limited had separately filed a criminal defamation case against him, alleging that he had published a series of tweets containing false and defamatory statements intended to damage the reputation of the company and the Adani Group.In February, a Gujarat court convicted Nair and sentenced him to one year’s imprisonment, also imposing a fine of Rs 5,000. Judicial First Class Magistrate Damini Dixit held him guilty of criminal defamation under Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), rejecting his defence that the posts amounted to fair comment and legitimate criticism on matters of public concern and governance.
