Guwahati (The Stellar News)Nava Thakuria: Reporters sans/without Borders (RSF) calls on Indian Union government for initiating to withdraw all charges against Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, who may face arrest any time under a non-bailable warrant issued on 19 January by a court in Gujarat’s Kutch district as a result of a libel action by Adani group of industries. “The justice system is seemingly manipulated” said the Paris based media rights body in a media statement.
It added that the investigative journalist has been targeted by two legal actions (a civil defamation suit and a criminal defamation complaint) in connection with two articles about the Adani group that he co-authored in January and June 2017 issues of Economic and Political Weekly and The Wire. “It is absolutely inconceivable that a journalist is to be arrested for an article published four years ago whose accuracy was confirmed by a civil court,” said Daniel Bastard, head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. Everything suggests that the Adani group is trying its best to use the court to take its harassment of Thakurta to the extremes of persecution.
