Gujarat High Court rejects The Wire’s plea against gag order

Gujarat High Court’s single-judge bench of Justice Paresh Upadhyay held that “it can’t be said that there was no justification for the trial court for passing the ex parte order”.

The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday rejected a petition filed by Delhi-based news portal The Wire challenging a lower court order barring it from publishing any further reports on the turnover of Jay Shah’s company.

The lower court’s ex parte order had come last month on a defamation suit and damages for Rs 100 crore filed by Jay, son of BJP president Amit Shah, days after The Wire published an article — “The Golden Touch of Jay Amit Shah” — stating that the turnover of his firm grew exponentially in the year following the BJP’s election to power at the Centre in 2014.

Disposing of the petition, the High Court’s single-judge bench of Justice Paresh Upadhyay held that “it can’t be said that there was no justification for the trial court for passing the ex parte order”.

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Justice Upadhyay’s order mentioned that petitions of the portal “need not be entertained on merits”, and stated that defendants, The Wire, can file a counter application against the suit if they choose to do so.

The High Court also directed the trial court to decide the injunction application “within 30 days from today, after hearing both the sides”.