Ahmedabad, Oct 14 Gujarat High Court Judge SV Pinto has recused herself from hearing journalist Ravi Nair’s petition challenging a sessions court’s order which rejected his plea to bring on record additional documents in his appeal against conviction in a defamation case filed by Adani Enterprises Ltd.
Justice Pinto said, “Not before this court,” when the matter was brought up for hearing on Tuesday, without assigning any reason.
On February 10, 2026, the journalist was sentenced to one year imprisonment by a Mansa court in Gandhinagar district in the criminal defamation suit filed by Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) on September 3, 2021, over certain tweets and articles, related to the company, attributed to him.
Nair challenged his conviction in an appellate court in Gandhinagar, which granted him bail on March 9, 2026, on the condition he will remain present during the hearing of his appeal.
The scribe filed an appeal before the sessions court. He submitted an application before the sessions court for adducing further evidence, but the plea was rejected, prompting him to challenge the order in the HC.
Nair was recently arrested following a non-bailable warrant issued against him by the sessions court for failing to personally appear before it during a hearing on an appeal against conviction in the criminal defamation case.
He was later released on bail.
(PTI News)
