Key Points:
The MIB ordered the takedown of 138 YouTube videos and 83 Instagram posts 'defamatory' to Adani Enterprises
This follows an earlier injunction by Rohini court which allowed Adani Enterprises to decide which posts are defamatory to it
The content in question ranges from investigations and interviews to jokes and mere mentions of Adani
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) ordered the takedown of 138 YouTube videos and 83 Instagram posts critical of Gautam Adani. The notice was issued on Tuesday, 16 September 2025, following a high court order from 6 September directing the removal of information defamatory to Adani Enterprises Ltd. (AEL).
The notice named senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta – who is the only journalist mentioned directly in the court order as well – along with Ravi Nair, Abir Dasgupta, Ravish Kumar, and others. It also listed outlets like Newslaundry – which was ordered to takedown 42 of the 138 videos mentioned – The News Minute, HW News, New Delhi Post, and The Wire, along with content creators Akash Banerjee and Dhruv Rathee.
The MIB notice covers content ranging from investigations and interviews to even clips and satire mentioning Adani. For example, a Newslaundry interview with Kunal Kamra was flagged because Kamra made the following comment: “If I post that Adani is our coal minister — that’s satire in my book. But under this regime, the government can say it’s false and strike it down.” Another video by them has been highlighted for containing a screenshot to a story on Adani.
The MIB stated that the publishers had failed to comply with the court order in the stipulated timeline of five days. It directed them to take appropriate action and inform the ministry of the same within 36 hours of the notice’s publication. It also sent notices to Meta and Google, who, as intermediaries, are responsible for the content published on their platforms.
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The earlier court order, delivered by Senior Civil Judge Anuj Kumar Singh at Rohini District Court, directed the removal of ‘defamatory content’ published online against Adani Enterprises Ltd., in response to a defamation suit filed by the company. The company argued that the defendants had “aligned with anti-India interests”, and their reporting had “ulterior motives”. AEL further alleged that the content published by them repeatedly referenced the 2023 Hindenburg report and had damaged the company’s reputation and market value.
The court had delivered a ‘John Doe’ ex-parte injunction – meaning, the court order was in favour of Adani, made without consulting the defendants, and applied even to entities not named in the judgement. The court clarified that this was not a blanket ban, saying there is no restraint on ‘fair and accurate’ reporting. At the same time, it allowed AEL to include additional links for removal, beyond those mentioned in the complaint, that it felt was damaging to the company.
In response to the injunction, Paranjoy Guha, who is the primary defendant in the case, said, “I have full faith in the judiciary of India and remain confident that all the articles that I have authored or co-authored and all the statements that I have made are not just truthful and accurate but always in the public interest. I intend to vigorously contest the defamation claims made against me by Adani Enterprises Limited and will place my arguments before the court at the earliest opportunity.” Since 2017, he has been named in seven defamation cases by Adani Enterprises.
Many of those mentioned in the MIB notice have taken to social media to air grievances against the notice. YouTuber Akash Banerjee of The Deshbhakt said, “One the richest, most powerful & well connected businessmen in the world is fighting small independent you-tubers.” Ajit Anjum asked if it was illegal to even take Adani’s name, while Ravish Kumar said that 17 September should be celebrated as ‘Adani Video Takedown’ day.
A plea submitten by Guha challenging the injunction was scheduled to be heard the same day - 17 September - but was postponed by the link judge, since the roster judge was absent, saying, "11 days have passed since the impugned order. Why don't you wait for 10 more hours? Will heavens fall if you don't publish it for one more day?"
The matter is set be taken up on 18 September, along with pleas by journalists Ravi Nair, Abir Dasgupta, Ayaskant Das and Ayush Joshi, who have also been affected by the order and were named in the MIB notice.
[Rh/DS]
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