Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has filed a Rs 100 crore defamation suit in the Delhi High Court against several media houses, accusing them of spreading “false and scandalous” claims in their coverage of legal proceedings initiated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against industrialist Gautam Adani. Adani is accused of bribing the former Andhra CM to secure solar power contracts.
A bench led by Justice Subramonium Prasad issued a notice on Tuesday, December 10, regarding Reddy’s application seeking an interim injunction in the case. He has also requested the removal of defamatory articles from public circulation. The suit names multiple defendants, including Ushodaya Enterprises Private Limited, M. Nageshwar Rao (Editor, Eenadu Publications), Aamoda Publications Private Limited (publisher of Andhra Jyothi), N. Rahul Kumar (Editor, Andhra Jyothi), and TV Today Network Limited (operator of Aaj Tak).
According to the petition, the media houses misused reports on legal proceedings in the United States to propagate defamatory content. The allegations relate to the indictment and civil proceedings initiated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the Adani Group’s dealings.
“Under the garb of reporting the legal proceedings in the United States relating to the indictment proceedings and the civil suit proceedings initiated by SEC, the media houses are spreading false and scandalous material against Jagan. It is clear that the reportage is not limited to reporting bona fide and truthfully, the contents and the proceedings which form part of the judicial proceedings before the respective courts in the US,” the suit read, according to LiveLaw.
The US indictment order identified a high-ranking official in Andhra Pradesh whom Gautam Adani personally met in August 2021 to offer bribes for getting solar power contracts. Even though the order explicitly did not name Jagan, a complaint filed by the SEC, revealed that the official was none other than then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. It is alleged that Jagan was paid Rs 1,700 crore to hand over the power contract to the Adani Group.