Highlights:
AN INDIAN court has ordered the removal of an online documentary accusing prime minister Narendra Modi and billionaire Gautam Adani (pictured) of cronyism after Adani Enterprises sued, calling the film defamatory.
The company told the high court in Kolkata that the documentary, posted by Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia, contained false content and had prompted inquiries from some investors. The film had garnered millions of views on social media in recent days.
The court’s order, issued late on Monday (26), described the documentary as “not a news report or an account of proceedings. It is a dramatized narrative.”
Adani Enterprises, Modi’s office, Bhatia and the social media companies did not respond to requests for comment.
In its legal challenge, Adani Enterprises said it did not seek to restrict constructive criticism of government policy or business concentration, but alleged that Bhatia had suppressed material facts, according to the court order.
Bhatia, who is based in the US, said on X that the lawsuit sought `500 million ($5.25 million) in damages.
“Truth is on my side”, he wrote in one post.
“I believe the documentary has rattled Adani Enterprises Limited and struck a nerve at the highest levels,” he wrote.
Bhatia co-founded the once-popular email service Hotmail, which he sold to Microsoft in 1997.
The court’s interim order, which remains in force until January 31, 2027, directs YouTube, X and Meta’s Instagram to remove several posts of the 36-minute film, The Friendship Files. It also bars Bhatia from distributing the video. Hearings are likely to resume in January.
On October 19, police in Maharashtra, which is governed by Modi’s ruling alliance, sent Bhatia a takedown notice, saying the content “made serious unsubstantiated allegations”.
The documentary uses archival footage to trace the relationship between Modi and Adani, who both come from the western state of Gujarat.
It questions Adani’s successful bids for six airports in 2019 after a change in government rules that critics say favored the company.
The opposition Congress party has also raised similar allegations.
The Adani group has denied the allegations, while the government has said all regulations were followed and there was no favoritism.
Opposition figures have shared the documentary online. Regional leader Raj Thackeray, a Modi critic, removed it from his X account after it received 4.8 million views, saying he had acted at the request of the Mumbai police commissioner.
