Another SLAPP in the face? Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group now has The Wire in its crosshairs

The Reliance Group, headed by Anil Ambani, has filed yet another defamation suit against the media in relation to the Rafale Deal, this time against The Wire..The Rs. 6,000 crore suit has been filed in an Ahmedabad city civil court for a discussion on the Rafale Deal aired online, featuring The Wire Founding Editor MK Venu, Jawaharlal Nehru University Associate Professor Happymon Jacob, and defence journalist Ajai Shukla..The suit contends that the programme is “false” and that statements made during the discussion are “wholly incorrect and misleading, made with a deliberate pre-determined motive to harm and injure the reputation” of Reliance and Anil Ambani..Once again, the issue of filing a suit seeking such astronomical damages has been brought to the fore. Usually, the court fee for pursuing litigation is a percentage of the damages sought for the alleged violation. This is supposed to act as a deterrent for claiming damages that are exorbitant. However, the Gujarat Court Fees Act, 2004 caps the court fee for cases filed in the state at Rs. 75,000. In effect, a plaintiff in the state may seek an unlimited amount of damages for a relatively measly sum of Rs. 75,000..The defamation action against The Wire is another addition to the long list of suits filed against various media houses and politicians for calling into question how Ambani’s Reliance ADAG bagged the controversial Rafale Deal. As per Scroll.in, the number of defamation suits filed by Anil Ambani and the Reliance Group this year alone – not all of them linked to the Rafale Deal – stands at a whopping 28.