Ahmedabad court vacates injunction on The Wire in Jay Shah defamation case

A civil court at Mirzapur, Ahmedabad today vacated the ex parte interim injunction against The Wire in the defamation case filed against the publication by Jay Shah..The matter has its genesis in an article published by The Wire on October 8 alleging impropriety in the dealings of Jay Shah, son of BJP President Amit Shah. In reaction to the article, the younger Shah filed a defamation suit of Rs. 100 crore against the publication and its journalists on October 12..On that very day, BK Dasondi, 4th Additional Senior Civil Judge, Ahmedabad Rural, had passed an ex parte order effectively preventing The Wire from publishing, in any form, media related to the article dated October 8..The publication then sought to file an appeal against the trial court order before the Gujarat High Court, which refused to stay the order on November 29. While dismissing the appeal, the Court left it open for the appellants to file a counter to the suit, or an application before the trial court. It further directed the trial court to finally decide the injunction application within 30 days, after hearing both sides..Today, the court ruled that the injunction is now restricted only to the line “Narendra Modi becoming Prime Minister/elected as Prime Minister”. According to The Wire, they are effectively free to report on Jay Shah’s dealings..Image courtesy: The Wire website