Ravish Kumar Moves Delhi High Court Against Centre's Order To Take Down Content Against Adani Enterprises

Journalist Ravish Kumar has moved the Delhi High Court challenging the order of the Central Government directing him to take down allegedly defamatory content against Adani Enterprises.

The matter will be heard on Monday by Justice Sachin Datta.

Notably, a similar petition, filed by Newslaundry, challenging the same order is also listed for hearing before the judge on Monday.

In his plea, Kumar has said that the impugned order represents an unprecedented and unconstitutional exercise of executive power that strikes at the very foundation of democratic governance, press freedom and the separation of powers doctrine enshrined in the Constitution of India.

He has said though he was not a defendant in the defamation suit in which the impugned order was passed, but he has been directly and adversely affected by Centre's directive as his YouTube videos have been targeted for takedown.

As per the plea, the chilling effect of such governmental overreach extends beyond individual content creators to the entire ecosystem of independent journalism and public discourse in the country.

The petition seeks a declaration that prior restraint on journalistic content requires strict constitutional compliance with Article 19(2) safeguards and that the same has been violated by the Central Government.

It further seeks a direction on the Centre to refrain from issuing similar orders without constitutional and statutory compliance.

A further direction is sought on the Union Government to establish clear guidelines for any content-related administrative action, establishing safeguards against executive overreach in content regulation while protecting journalists and content creators.

Title: RAVISH KUMAR v. UNION OF INDIA