AN AHMEDABAD district court on Saturday reserved its order on The Wire’s application against the injunction that bars the website from further writing or holding any debate on the “dramatic” increase in turnover of a firm linked with BJP president Amit Shah’s son Jay. After conclusion of arguments from both sides, the court of Additional Senior Civil Judge, Mirzapur, B K Dasondi reserved the verdict and said he may pronounce it on December 26, or in January. Earlier, appearing for the website, senior lawyer Nitya Ramakrishnan said, “The Wire stands by its article, which is based on public documents which shows that turnover increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 80 crore. And you (Jay) can’t say why did we call it dramatic (increase in turnover), because this is how the records show.” Representing Jay Shah, senior lawyer Nirupam Nanavati concluded that the injunction is only on writing or debating further on the same “subject matter.” He argued, “It is not a gag order and the article still exists.” Ramakrishnan argued that the article “doesn’t say dishonest or corrupt”. She told the court, “He (Jay) is free to answer how did he do it (increase company’s turnover). They have not told this court about the secret of dramatic rise (by) 16,000 times because for injunction you must prove that (the) whole article is not true.”
