Gujarat HC judge recuses from hearing appeal by journalist Ravi Nair

A judge of Gujarat High Court recused herself from hearing an appeal filed by investigative journalist Ravi Nair against his conviction in a criminal defamation case filed by Adani Enterprises. Judge S V Pinto of Gujarat High Court on Tuesday, October 13, recused from hearing without specifying any reason. 

Advocate Abhik Chimni, who appeared for the petitioner, had pleaded to include additional evidence in the case under section 391 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. A trial court had convicted Ravi considering the Adani Group’s plea that his 16 tweets published in the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) were defamatory. The application was to consider the news articles on which the tweets of Ravi were based. 

After hearing the petitioner’s name, the judge said “I will have to say not before this court”. The judge, however, did not mention any reason for the recusal. 

A Judicial Magistrate First Class court in Gandhinagar had sentenced Ravi to imprisonment of one year in the criminal defamation case on February 2, 2026. 

The case was based on a complaint filed by an employee of the Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone limited (APSEZ) for a series of tweets he had posted on his ‘X’ account between October 2020 and July 2021. 

Ravi’s tweets were prominently based on news articles from media such as The Guardian, NewsClick etc. Based on an appeal, the conviction was suspended in March. The independent journalist has conducted multiple investigations into organisations, including Adani Group.