HC orders status quo on removal of content on Adani

THe new delhi heights margaret court on fri unsympathetic digital news platform NewsLaundry and journalist Ravish Kumar’s petitions against Centre’s September 16 directive to take down several reports and videos related to businessman Gautam Adani’s Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) in 36 hours.This was after AEL, Newslaundry and Kumar entered into an understanding, under which AEL agreed not to seek removal of any further content from their platforms, while Newslaundry and Kumar undertook not to restore the material already taken down, until AEL’s application is decided by the trial court.Considering the contentions, the court disposed of the petitions and further directed Centre’s counsel Amit Tiwari to issue a corrigendum, communicating high court’s order to the parties.“The understating is to the effect that the plaintiff (AEL) in the suit (before the trial court) will not seek that the present petitioners take down any further material hosted on their sites or any other intermediary existing as on 12 PM on September 26. It is agreed that in case the petitioners have already taken down any material, the same shall not be re uploaded. It is agreed that the understanding subsists only till the plaintiff’s application under Order 39 Rule 1 and 2 is decided and disposed of in the civil suit,” the court said in the order.It added, “Needless to state that in light of the aforesaid understanding, the Union of India will address a corrigendum to the petitioners. Nothing shall be construed as an opinion on the merits or expression of the case. The petitions are disposed of.”On September 6, special civil judge Anuj Kumar Singh had passed an ad interim injunction order, restraining multiple journalists, activists and entities from publishing and circulating allegedly unverified and defamatory reports against AEL and ordered the removal of any such content already published.Following the order, the Union ministry of information and broadcasting had issued an order on September 16, asking several news outlets and independent journalists, including Dhruv Rathee, Ravish Kumar, Abhisar Sarma, Deshbhakt (Akash Banerjee), and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, to take down the content.On September 18, district Judge Ashish Aggarwal had restrained multiple journalists, activists and entities from publishing and circulating allegedly unverified and defamatory reports against AEL and ordered the removal of any such content already published.Following the ruling, Newslaundry and Ravish Kumar had also challenged the September 6 gag order, but district judge Sunil Chaudhary had adjourned Newslaundry’s petition for October 15.Newslaundry and Ravish Kumar’s petition before the high court had said that the directive was nothing short of complete administrative overreach and an arbitrary exercise of judicial power in directing action based on an order passed in a civil dispute between parties. It went on to add that the order has no “legal”, “statutory” or “constitutional bias” in the first place and amounted to chilling free speech.