Adanis "lose" defamation case against Wire, ex-EPW editor Thakurta, court asks portal to remove a sentence, an adverb

By A Representative
In what is seen a victory for the top news portal "The Wire", which republished an article by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and three other journalists from the "Economic and Political Weekly" (EPW), "Modi Government’s Rs 500-Crore Bonanza to the Adani Group", Principal Senior Civil Judge Jaiminkumar R Pandit, Bhuj, Kutch, deciding on the interim application, has "rejected" the defamation plea against the publishers and authors of the article, even as directing them to remove a sentence and a word from it.
Sub-titled "The government has quietly tweaked rules relating to special economic zones – and the new rules specifically favour the Adani Group" (June 17, 2017), the sentence of the article which the civil judge ordered to be removed is, "The High Court was misled and wrongly recorded the customs duty on electricity from the SEZ to DTA will not be maintainable as this will lead to double taxation", and also the adverb "Surprisingly" in the same paragraph, as the allegation lacked "verification."
Delivered on November 16 this year, though surprisingly went unnoticed despite the high profile nature of the case, the order said, except this "direction", all the prayers of personal defamation against the publishers and the authors were being "rejected". As the EPW had already withdrawn the controversial article from its site following the defamation law suit, the direction pertained to "The Wire", which refused to withdraw the republished article.
Complying by the order, "The Wire" said, in its endnote to the article, "The Wire had contested the application for injunction moved by M/s Adani Power Limited, regarding the article titled 'Modi Government’s Rs 500-Crore Bonanza to the Adani Group'. The Ld Principal Senior Civil Judge (Bhuj-Kacch) has accepted all 'The Wire’s' contentions in the said application and has only ordered removal of one line pertaining to a High Court decision as well as one adverb."
The news portal added, "'The Wire' is complying with the Ld Principal Senior Civil Judge’s order dated November 16, 2017 and removing the said sentence and adverb", even as upholding the order. It is not known if the Adani Group would approach a higher judiciary against the Bhuj court order.
The order on the Adani defamation case comes alongside a major setback suffered by the son of BJP president Amit Shah, Jay, who filed a Rs 100 crore defamation case against "The Wire" for an article on meteoric rise ("16,000 times") in his business activities following the party's ascension to power at the Centre in 2014. The civil court, Mirzapur, Ahmedabad, vacated the "ex parte ad interim injunction" imposed on the news portal by it in October.
Rejecting the Adanis' plea, the court, in its written order, observed that that a questionnaire and an email were sent to the Adani Group before publishing the article, and that the article was published "upon material available", hence the article "cannot be said to be defamatory", and hence "there is no prima facie case."
The article became controversial not just because it had sought to placate one of the top Indian business groups, widely regarded as close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Soon after Adani Group filed its defamation case, the EPW withdrew the article from its online portal, making Thakurta, the main author, resign from his post as editor of the top research journal.
Reporting on the withdrawal of the article on the EPW, "The Wire", which republished the article, not only declared that it would not take down the article, but commented, "Worried about the threat of an expensive lawsuit by one of India’s biggest corporate houses, the trustees running the journal (EPW) ordered the removal of an article critical of Adani Power Ltd."
"The Wire" decided to fight the law suit filed by the Adani Group along with the article's authors, who included Abir Dasgupta, EPW editorial assistant, and two independent journalists Advait Rao Palepu and Shinzani Jain. Sarim Naved, advocate for "The Wire" and the authors of the article, said, "Only the interim application has been decided. The suit remains to be fought."

Comments

Anonymous said…

Kudos to THE WIRE for daring to against the mighty corporate group involved in the matter. Alas! the trustees of EPW, that includes the likes of Romila Thapar, could not muster enough courage to stand with Paranjoy Gujarat Thakurta
- Murali Krishna M S, Bengaluru

December 31, 2017

শিবু said…

Kudos to The WIRE. And shame on EPW Trustees for letting down EPW.

December 31, 2017

Uma said…

Good for The Wire. What is EPW going to do now? They should reinstate such a good journalist or they will be the losers.

January 03, 2018

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

CFA flags ‘welfare retreat’ in Union Budget 2026–27, alleges corporate bias

By Jag Jivan The advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) has sharply criticised the Union Budget 2026–27 , calling it a “budget sans kartavya” that weakens public welfare while favouring private corporations, even as inequality, climate risks and social distress deepen across the country.

From water scarcity to sustainable livelihoods: The turnaround of Salaiya Maaf

By Bharat Dogra We were sitting at a central place in Salaiya Maaf village, located in Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh, for a group discussion when an elderly woman said in an emotional voice, “It is so good that you people came. Land on which nothing grew can now produce good crops.”

'Big blow to crores of farmers’: Opposition mounts against US–India trade deal

By A Representative Farmers’ organisations and political groups have sharply criticised the emerging contours of the US–India trade agreement, warning that it could severely undermine Indian agriculture, depress farm incomes and open the doors to genetically modified (GM) food imports in violation of domestic regulatory safeguards.

When free trade meets unequal fields: The India–US agriculture question

By Vikas Meshram The proposed trade agreement between India and the United States has triggered intense debate across the country. This agreement is not merely an attempt to expand bilateral trade; it is directly linked to Indian agriculture, the rural economy, democratic processes, and global geopolitics. Free trade agreements (FTAs) may appear attractive on the surface, but the political economy and social consequences behind them are often unequal and controversial. Once again, a fundamental question has surfaced: who will benefit from this agreement, and who will pay its price?

Why Russian oil has emerged as the flashpoint in India–US trade talks

By N.S. Venkataraman* In recent years, India has entered into trade agreements with several countries, the latest being agreements with the European Union and the United States. While the India–EU trade agreement has been widely viewed in India as mutually beneficial and balanced, the trade agreement with the United States has generated comparatively greater debate and scrutiny.

Trade pacts with EU, US raise alarms over farmers, MSMEs and policy space

By A Representative A broad coalition of farmers’ organisations, trade unions, traders, public health advocates and environmental groups has raised serious concerns over India’s recently concluded trade agreements with the European Union and the United States, warning that the deals could have far-reaching implications for livelihoods, policy autonomy and the country’s long-term development trajectory. In a public statement issued, the Forum for Trade Justice described the two agreements as marking a “tectonic shift” in India’s trade policy and cautioned that the projected gains in exports may come at a significant social and economic cost.

From Puri to the State: How Odisha turned the dream of drinkable tap water into policy

By Hans Harelimana Hirwa, Mansee Bal Bhargava Drinking water directly from the tap is generally associated with developed countries where it is considered safe and potable. Only about 50 countries around the world offer drinkable tap water, with the majority located in Europe and North America, and a few in Asia and Oceania. Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, Germany, and Singapore have the highest-quality tap water, followed by Canada, New Zealand, Japan, the USA, Australia, the UK, Costa Rica, and Chile.

Four women lead the way among Tamil Nadu’s Muslim change-makers

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* A report published by Awaz–The Voice (ATV), a news platform, highlights 10 Muslim change-makers in Tamil Nadu, among whom four are women. These individuals are driving social change through education, the arts, conservation, and activism. Representing diverse fields ranging from environmental protection and literature to political engagement and education, they are working to improve society across the state.

Search This Blog