Gujarat HC Suspends Arrest Warrant Against Paranjoy Guha Thakurta

Adani Group has withdrawn the defamation complaints against everybody but not the author, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.

Gujarat HC suspends arrest warrant against journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta in the Adani Defamation Case

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The Gujarat High court on Thursday, 28 January suspended the non-bailable warrant issued by a taluka court in Mundra against journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta in the defamation case filed by Adani Power Ltd in 2017.

Justice BN Karia heard the petition moved by Guha’s lawyer Anand Yagnik, issued a notice to Adani Power Ltd, directing Guha to submit a legal undertaking that he will be present for the next hearing at Mundra court, and be present as and when the court requires his presence. The next hearing before the High Court is on 20 February.

The non-bailable warrant was issued on 19 January based on Adani Power Ltd’s complaint against Guha for missing previous trial dates at the Mundra court, after Guha’s application to be exempt on account of coronavirus was rejected.

Background

A Gujarat court on Tuesday, 19 January, issued an arrest warrant against senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, following a defamation suit filed by the Adani Group, reported ANI.

Yagnik also, according to PTI, said that the Adani Group has withdrawn complaints against everybody, including the editor, but not the author.

The criminal defamation case relates to an article by Guha Thakurta and other authors in 2017 about how the Adani Group had obtained a “Rs 500 crore bonanza” because of certain changes to government rules. The article was originally published in the journal Economic and Political Weekly, but after they took it down, it was republished by The Wire.