New Delhi: Freelance journalist Ravi Nair has been served an arrest warrant by the Delhi Police in connection with a criminal defamation filed against him by Adani Group.
The defamation suit requires Nair to appear before a court in Gandhinagar, where the case has been filed.
Speaking to The Wire, Nair said that he was not served any prior summons nor was he given any copy of the complaint. He also said he wasn’t told which story or social media post had prompted the criminal defamation.
“I didn’t even know that there was a case filed against me. They should have served summons first. If the court has sent a summons, it never came to me… I have never received anything,” Nair told The Wire, adding that he will appear before a trial court in Gandhinagar by the end of this month.
Over the years, Nair has authored a number of investigative stories, some of which have been critical of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on its economic policies. His journalistic work has also touched upon the controversial Rafale deal, the Adani Group’s businesses and the relationship between the Narendra Modi government and the company.
India under the Narendra Modi government has consistently fared poorly on global indices of press freedom. In the 2022 World Press Freedom Index, India’s ranking fell to an unenviable 150 out of 180 nations.
Similarly, the report released by the global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called India “one of the world’s most dangerous countries for the media”.
