Investigative journalist Ravi Nair, who is facing a probe by the Gujarat police in a complaint filed by an employee of Adani Group over a tweet he posted on ‘X’, has been lodged in judicial custody since September 17. The Gujarat High Court which heard the case again on Monday, September 21, has now given two-day’s time for Adani Group to file a response to Ravi’s plea challenging the arrest.
The case came up for hearing at the bench of justice MK Thakkar of Gujarat High Court. Though Ravi’s counsel pleaded for interim relief, the court postponed the case for two days. The counsel representing the Adani Group requested more time to submit legal and factual points in the case.
Advocate Abhik Chimni appearing for Ravi asked why his client should spend even one day in jail in a case that was at an appellate stage. However, the court observed that the complainant should be given fair opportunity for responding to the notice.
Ravi was slapped with a non-bailable warrant after he failed to appear for a hearing in an appeal filed by him at the Gandhinagar court on September 3. Though Ravi approached the Gujarat HC to cancel the warrant, his application was rejected and he was sent to Sabarmati Central jail.
On Tuesday, September 22, Amnesty international expressed concerns over the arrest of Ravi while his appeal is pending before the Gujarat High Court in a case of criminal defamation. “It poses serious questions around people's freedom of expression and fair trial rights in the country,” it said in a post on X.
The non-bailable warrant was issued on September 3 without giving a formal summons or notice to Ravi. The Gandhinagar court has been hearing Ravi’s petition challenging his conviction and one-year imprisonment in the criminal defamation case.
Ravi was convicted for a term of one year in the criminal defamation case by the Judicial Magistrate First Class court in Gandhinagar on February 2. 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.
This conviction was suspended based on his appeal in March. According to Ravi’s counsel, an application for exemption from his personal appearance was rejected and a non-bailable warrant was issued on September 3, without any prior notice or without resorting to the immediate step of a bailable warrant.