New Delhi: Veteran journalist Sucheta Dalal has moved a Delhi court challenging an order banning any news content linking businessman Manoj Kesari Chand Sandesara or his family members to the alleged Sterling Biotech bank fraud case, Bar and Bench has reported.Moneywise Media LLP, which Dalal founded, challenged an April 4 ex parte interim injunction by a civil judge directing platforms Google and Meta to remove content linking the Sandesaras to the Sterling Biotech case within 36 hours. Moneywise is the company that publishes the magazine Moneylife. The order included three articles and a YouTube video published by Moneylife.Last year, the Supreme Court had agreed to quash proceedings against the firm’s promoters Nitin and Chetan Sandesara after they paid over Rs 5,100 crore and agreed to settle the remaining Rs 4,689 crore in the bank fraud case. The Sandesaras had allegedly floated more than 300 shell and “benami” companies in India and abroad to divert and misuse loan funds.The Print has reported that in his plea, Manoj Sandesara had alleged defamation, slander and libel, despite the family’s legal exoneration. The suit named Google, Meta and John Doe media entities as defendants. “Usually, John Doe orders are passed to restrain unidentified perpetrators from continuing acts of defamation,” the report said.In the challenge, Dalal has argued that the order was overly broad, violated free speech, targeted its content without naming it or hearing it, and effectively curtailed reporting. She also noted that the order had failed to identify what was defamatory about the content in the first place.“The Impugned Order also fails to recognize that the Plaintiff is pursuing the defamation claim not only on behalf of him, but also on behalf of the “his family name concerning the case of Sterling Biotech Limited and bank fraud”. This effectively means that the Plaintiff is seeking reliefs on behalf of himself, his family, and Sterling Biotech Limited, even though no other family member or authorised representative of Sterling Biotech Limited is part of the Suit,” Moneywise has said.District Judge Vinod Kumar Meena of the Tis Hazari Courts heard the matter on April 13 and issued notice to Manoj Sandesara, Google and Meta.The case will be heard next on April 29.