New Delhi: On February 10, 2026, a magistrate court in Mansa, Gandhinagar, Gujarat convicted freelance journalist Ravi Nair in a criminal defamation case and sentenced him to one year’s simple imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 5,000. The judgment followed a private complaint filed by Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL), the flagship company of the Adani Group, which alleged that a series of posts published by Nair on social media contained defamatory material that damaged the company’s reputation.The case arose from tweets and related online material that Nair posted between October 2020 and July 2021 from his X (formerly Twitter) account. According to the case, filed as a private complaint by AEL, similar material also existed on websites associated with his writings. AEL argued that these publications went beyond fair commentary or legitimate criticism and made categorical assertions alleging corruption, manipulation of laws, misuse of government agencies and undue political patronage in favour of the Adani Group.“Mere assertion of research or reliance on public discourse does not satisfy the requirement of truth or good faith. Good faith necessarily implies due care and attention, particularly when the imputations are grave and capable of causing serious reputational harm,” the Gujarat court order reportedly said.The criminal defamation case against Nair was filed on September 3, 2021, in connection with his posts and reposts on the social media platform X and his contributions to the independent news site AdaniWatch. The journalist only learned of the complaint in July 2022, when an arrest warrant was issued, which was ultimately annulled at his first hearing, Reporters Without Borders noted at the time, in a detailed report on so-called Slapp cases, filed by powerful figures in an attempt to silence journalism.Under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code (Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which came to effect only in 2023), criminal defamation is punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment. The court held that the posts in question were capable of lowering the reputation of AEL among investors, regulators and business partners and thus amounted to an offence.First Class Judicial Magistrate Damini Dixit did not accept Nair’s argument that the posts and his writings constituted fair comment and criticism on matters of public interest. It reportedly rejected Nair’s defence that his work was public interest journalism pursued in good faith, noting that no material had been placed on record to substantiate the serious allegations in his writings.The court also declined to extend the benefit of probation to Nair, observing that the frequency and continuity of the tweets over several months indicated a “deliberate and sustained attempt to malign” the complainant rather than bona fide critique.A probation is a conditional form of release, usually offered to first-time offenders, who asked to meet certain conditions under state supervision for a specified time, under the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958 and not imprisoned. Since this option has been denied to Nair, his next legal steps would likely be to approach a higher court for a stay order and/or appeal, though still not immediate arrest.The magistrate in the Gujarat court emphasised that the right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the constitution is not absolute and must be balanced against the right to reputation under Article 21. The order reaffirmed that reputational harm, even to juristic persons such as companies, is a protected interest under the law.In response to the court’s verdict, Nair posted a reference to the Urdu poem “Hum Dekhenge – We Shall See” by Faiz Ahmed Faiz on his X account on February 10, with the simple line, “Hum dekhenge.”In September 2025, the Supreme Court noted during a hearing pertaining to The Wire that the “time had come” to consider decriminalising defamation, signalling a desire for removal of the criminal penalty.However, the law still includes defamation as both a criminal and civil offence. The BNS, 2023, did not remove the offence despite claiming to be reformist. Instead, while retaining the earlier penalties, the law now includes community service as an alternative form of punishment, and raises the punishment to up to three years, at the discretion of the court, in certain cases, such as when a group rather than an individual is seen as being criminally defamed.Journalist Ravi Nair has contributed articles to The Wire in the past, as well as to numerous other publications and the web site AdaniWatch. He has written independently as well as in collaboration with other investigative journalists, who have faced criminal defamation charges as well, including cases pursued by Adani Group companies.