NEW DELHI: A district court on Thursday set aside a civil court’s gag order restraining journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta from reporting about Adani Group and directed the trial court to rehear the matter. District Judge Sunil Chaudhary ruled Thakurta will not be bound by the September 6 injunction until the senior civil judge hears him at 2 pm on September 26.
The district court order said: “Needless to say that the 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 of 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 order reads.
The September 6 injunction, issued by Senior Civil Judge Anuj Kumar Singh of the Rohini Court, had restrained five named journalists and several unknown defendants from publishing alleged defamatory material about Adani Enterprises Ltd and directed intermediaries to remove content. The order followed a suit by cpmpany alleging that publications had damaged its reputation.
Senior Advocate Trideep Pais, representing Thakurta, attacked the injunction as “overbroad and unreasoned,” urging the court to apply settled principles for interim relief. The district court noted concerns about the absence of reasoned findings before imposing restraints on reporting.
Senior Advocate Anurag Ahluwalia, representing Adani, argued that the published material had repeatedly harmed the company’s market standing and investor interests. “This is not fair journalism,” Ahluwalia had submitted.