Gandhinagar court grants bail to journalist Ravi Nair in Adani defamation case

A Gandhinagar sessions court on Thursday granted regular bail to journalist Ravi Nair, who was sent to judicial custody a week ago after a non-bailable warrant was issued against him in a criminal defamation case filed by Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL).

Principal district and sessions judge Ashish JS Malhotra allowed Nair’s regular bail application on Thursday.

Nair was taken into custody on September 17 after the court rejected his plea seeking cancellation of the warrant issued over his failure to remain personally present during a hearing in his appeal against his conviction.

The case followed a complaint filed by AEL, the Adani Group’s flagship company, alleging that the accused published and disseminated a series of tweets containing false and defamatory statements intended to damage the reputation of AEL and the Adani Group. A Judicial Magistrate First Class court in Mansa had on February 10 convicted Nair of criminal defamation, sentenced him to one year of simple imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹5,000.

Nair challenged the conviction before the Gandhinagar sessions court, which suspended his sentence and granted him bail on March 9, subject to conditions including his regular presence during the appeal proceedings.

On September 3, his application seeking exemption from personal appearance was rejected and the court issued a non-bailable warrant. He appeared before the court on September 17 and sought cancellation of the warrant, but the plea was rejected and he was sent to judicial custody.

He approached the Gujarat High Court challenging the warrant and his custody. On Wednesday, the High Court refused to grant him interim relief and reserved its order on his petition for September 30.

The regular bail application before the sessions court was heard separately and was allowed on Thursday.