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The Sameeksha Trust, which publishes the Economic and Political Weekly peer-reviewed academic journal, said on Thursday that its editor who recently quit under a cloud had "unilaterally" initiated legal proceedings against a business house after being served a legal notice over two articles. Former editor Paranjoy Guha Thakurta took the step while keeping the office-bearers of the trust in the dark, Sameeksha Trust said in a statement.
In response, Guha Thakurta said the trustees were not sharing the "full picture" that led to his resignation.
The EPW articles claimed favours were given to the Adani Group by the Centre and that it evaded taxes. Last month, Adani served a legal notice to Sameeksha, Guha Thakurta and three co-authors of the articles, threatening legal action against them. The articles have since been taken down from the EPW website.
The statement said:
The Sameeksha trust added in its statement:
The trust described Guha Thakurta's step as a "grave impropriety amounting to a breach of trust". The same was conveyed to the veteran journalist, the statement said.
"Thereupon, Mr Guha Thakurta submitted his resignation. It was accepted by the Trustees after due deliberation," it said.
Guha Thakurta told PTI that the statement issued by the trust about the interaction that the trustees had with him on 18 July "does not give the full picture of what transpired" that day.
The Sameeksha statement said EPW is a unique institution with a reputation for independent and impartial journalism, built over five decades. The trust issued a statement saying:
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