2 months ago
1
The Supreme Court refused to intervene successful a petition filed by journalist Ravi Nair, who is challenging a February 12 announcement of summons issued by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch successful connection, according to him, with co-authoring an nonfiction titled “India’s $3.9 cardinal program to assistance Modi’s mogul state aft U.S. charges”, published successful ‘The Washington Post’ daily.
A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta asked the petitioner, represented by elder advocator Anand Grover and advocator Paras Nath Singh, to determination the Gujarat High Court.
The tribunal allowed the petitioner to retreat the petition without entertaining his oral plea for extortion against immoderate coercive enactment for now.
When Mr. Grover replied that coming earlier the apex tribunal was a cardinal close of the petitioner nether Article 32 of the Constitution, Justice Nath said approaching the High Court acrophobic nether Article 22 was arsenic a cardinal right.
The petition said the nonfiction had “revealed however Indian officials drafted and pushed done a connection successful May 2025 to steer astir $3.9 cardinal successful investments to Adani Group businesses from the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), a state-owned entity chiefly liable for providing beingness security to mediocre and agrarian families”.
The petition had argued that the February 12 announcement “seeks to criminalise journalistic enactment carried retired successful bully faith, aft owed diligence, and successful the nationalist interest”.
It had been argued that the rights of the petitioner nether Articles 14 (right to adjacent attraction successful law), 19(1)(a) (free code and expression), and the close not to beryllium deprived of his idiosyncratic liberty but according to process established by law, enshrined nether Article 21 had been threatened by the State of Gujarat.
The petition said the State authorities were “illegally indulging successful a roving and sportfishing enquiry against the petitioner without jurisdiction”.
“The nonfiction was published bona fide successful nationalist interest, based connected interior documents from LIC and the Indian Department of Financial Services (DFS), a subdivision of the country’s Finance
Ministry; interviews with existent and erstwhile officials astatine those agencies; and 3 Indian bankers acquainted with Adani Group finances. All sources spoke connected information of anonymity owing to fearfulness of nonrecreational retribution,” the petition submitted.
It said Mr. Nair had exercised owed diligence and reviewed the documents successful accordance with bully journalistic practices.
“The petitioner’s co-author besides sought responses from the Adani Group, LIC, DFS, and the Prime Minister’s Office. Only the Adani Group responded to the queries sent by the authors, and their effect was duly published alongside the article. LIC, DFS, and the PMO chose not to reply,” it had contended.
