The Media Foundation condemns arrest warrant issued against senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta

The Media Foundation has expressed deep dismay at the decision of a lower court in Gujarat’s Kutch region to issue an arrest warrant against senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta in a defamation case filed by the Adani group.

“In June 2017, Thakurta had co-authored an expose in the Economic & Political Weekly outlining how the Adani group was able to evade paying the required amount of duty for an export venture with some help from the government. This series of articles was later reproduced on a news website, The Wire. Subsequently, the Adani group dropped the defamation charges against the publishers, the website and the co-authors of the investigation, barring Thakurta,” it noted in a statement issued on Thursday.

“While we hope that the higher judicial forums will provide immediate relief to Thakurta, it does need to be emphasised that this defamation case is a vindictive act and intended to intimidate journalists and discourage professional journalism. This is part of a larger emerging trend of powerful vested interests misusing the processes of law to harass and hound independent and intrepid reporters and commentators,” it said.

“The Media Foundation expresses its solidarity with Thakurta and stands by him,” it added.