Gujarat High Court rejects journalist Ravi Nair's plea for interim release in Adani defamation case

The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday rejected journalist Ravi Nair's plea for interim release in a criminal defamation case filed against him by the Adani Group .Nair, who was convicted in the case earlier this year, had been released on bail during the pendency of his appeal, but was again taken into custody on September 17 following the issuance of a non-bailable warrant against him for allegedly not appearing before the appellate court.Justice MK Thakker today reserved her decision on Nair's petition challenging the issuance of the non-bailable warrant against him by a sessions court. The Court said that it will dictate the order next Wednesday..When Nair's counsel pressed for interim release, the Court said,"As this matter has been heard and the matter is kept for dictation of the order, no interim relief is required to be granted."Meanwhile, the Court also observed that Nair cannot challenge the non-bailable warrant when it already stands executed. The Court also pulled up Nair for not informing it that he had also applied for regular bail before the sessions court last week. .Advocate Abhik Chimni, representing Nair, today submitted that out of 8 hearings in the appeal, he had appeared on 3 dates. He was also granted an exemption from appearing on one date, the Court was told. Chimni added that the sessions court's finding that he had not appeared for 6 months was factually incorrect. He also objected to the use of the term "absconding" to describe Nair's absence from the court hearings."The reason given is erroneous in law," Chimni said.The counsel argued that in terms of various judgments delivered by the Supreme Court, the sessions court could not have issued the non-bailable warrant directly without first issuing summons or bailable warrants..Senior Advocate Mitesh Amin, appearing for the Adani Group, argued that it would be relevant to examine Nair's "conduct" before the appellate court. "Immediately after his appeal was admitted and suspension of sentence was ordered in April, he gave an application for leading additional evidence, to derail appeal proceedings," Amin submitted.Amin also submitted that Nair was present before the Gandhinagar court in March only for the execution of bail bonds. He also said that Nair had suppressed the fact of having simultaneously approached the Gandhinagar court for the grant of bail in the same matter.The senior counsel also referred to a criminal case registered by the Gujarat Police in connection with an article Nair co-authored for The Washington Post about the Adani Group. He said that while Nair had approached the Kerala High Court for transit bail in the FIR, he had also sought protection from arrest in SLP filed before the Supreme Court in the same matter. Amin further alleged that Nair was repeatedly defaming Adani Group companies. He also said that the sessions court has not cancelled the bail and asked that he presented before it on October 1. Thus, he urged the Court that the order sending Nair to custody should remain in force at least till October 1..In February, a magistrate convicted Nair in a criminal defamation case filed by the Adani Group in connection with a series of tweets and online articles accusing the Adani Group of numerous unethical practices. The Court ruled that the content went beyond fair criticism and amounted to criminal defamation. The case stemmed from a criminal complaint filed by the Adani Group in September 2021.The company alleged that between October 2020 and July 2021, Nair published multiple tweets from his X (formerly Twitter) handle and articles on a website called “adaniwatch.org”, accusing the Adani Group corruption, crony capitalism, manipulation of environmental laws, misuse of government agencies and unethical business practices..Following his conviction, he filed an appeal before a sessions court to challenge the verdict delivered by the judicial magistrate. The Court released him on bail during the pendency of the appeal. However, since he failed to appear before the Court earlier this month, a non-bailable warrant was issued against him.Nair then appeared before the sessions court and challenged the issuance of the non-bailable warrant. However, the Court rejected his plea and sent him to judicial custody. He then moved the High Court seeking immediate release from custody.