Get the latest news and updates from Dawn
FOR several years, the Adani Group, a vast Indian conglomerate run by billionaire Gautam Adani, has adopted a particularly aggressive stance towards journalists, filing numerous lawsuits, all of which are lengthy and expensive.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the group to stop their lawfare tactics, which are hindering press freedom, and urges Indian lawmakers to adopt a law against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), a legislation that is now more urgent than ever.
Since 2017, the Adani Group has been waging an unprecedented legal war against journalists and media outlets investigating its activities. Through the extensive use of civil and criminal defamation lawsuits, the group has sought to obstruct the work of at least 15 journalists, including some of the most respected voices in Indian media.
In nearly nine years, at least ten cases have been documented by RSF, each giving rise to multiple legal proceedings, mainly in the state of Gujarat, Gautam Adani’s stronghold. While no journalist or media outlet has been convicted in any of the lawsuits brought against them by Adani, in at least four cases, short-term gag orders temporarily silenced journalists, even before the courts were able to rule on the merits of the case.
