The Gujarat High Court has rejected another application filed by ‘journalist’ Ravi Nair in the defamation case instituted by the Adani Group. Nair had approached the High Court after the Gandhinagar Sessions Court dismissed his plea seeking permission to introduce additional evidence in his appeal against the trial court’s conviction. The High Court has now upheld the rejection of that application.
Meanwhile, in a separate case involving an FIR registered in May 2026, Nair has approached the Gujarat High Court seeking anticipatory bail after the Ahmedabad Sessions Court rejected his bail application. The matter is scheduled to be heard on November 6.
In February 2026, the Mansa Taluka Court in Gandhinagar had convicted Ravi Nair in a defamation case filed by the Adani Group and sentenced him to one year in prison. Nair subsequently challenged the conviction before the Gandhinagar Sessions Court.
During the pendency of his appeal, Nair filed an application seeking permission to introduce additional evidence. He requested that original documents, printouts and screenshots of articles, whose links had been submitted by the Adani Group during the trial, be brought on record.
However, the Gandhinagar Sessions Court rejected his application on July 22, 2026. Nair subsequently challenged this decision before the Gujarat High Court.
During the hearing, the Adani Group’s counsel opposed the plea, arguing that Nair had been given sufficient opportunity to produce these documents before the trial court but had failed to do so. The counsel contended that he could not seek to introduce such evidence belatedly at the appellate stage.
On November 2, 2026, Justice R. T. Vachhani delivered the verdict after hearing arguments from both sides. The High Court observed that several of the documents Nair wanted to introduce were already part of the case record. Consequently, it found no justification for allowing the application seeking additional evidence and dismissed it.
The defamation case relates to certain tweets and articles published by Ravi Nair on various websites during 2020-21, targeting the Adani Group. Subsequently, a company belonging to the conglomerate filed a complaint before the Mansa Court. In February 2026, the court convicted Nair and sentenced him to one year in prison. He has challenged the verdict before the Sessions Court.
Ahmedabad Sessions Court rejects anticipatory bail in May 2026 FIR; Nair approaches Gujarat High Court
Separately, another FIR was registered against Ravi Nair in May 2026. The case is being investigated by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch. The allegations pertain to claims allegedly made by Nair, purportedly on the basis of forged documents, that the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) had made substantial investments in Adani Group companies at the behest of the Government of India.
Nair had earlier approached the Gujarat High Court seeking quashing of this FIR. However, the High Court rejected his petition as well.
In the same case, Nair subsequently moved the Sessions Court seeking anticipatory bail. The Ahmedabad court dismissed his application on October 23.
In his bail plea, Nair argued that the allegations stemmed from his journalistic work and that he had adequately cooperated with the investigation. He contended that the police already had possession of certain electronic devices and documents, making custodial interrogation unnecessary. He also pointed out that the FIR had been registered nearly ten months after the publication of the article.
As in his earlier petitions, Nair alleged that the proceedings were intended to intimidate and harass him.
However, after considering the arguments advanced by the prosecution, the court noted that Nair had appeared for questioning only once and had subsequently failed to appear despite repeated notices.
The court also took note of Nair’s submission that an application challenging an arrest warrant was pending before the Gujarat High Court. However, it pointed out that the said application had already been dismissed on September 30, 2026.
Another issue that came under the court’s scrutiny was the different addresses furnished by Nair before various courts. The court noted that while Nair had provided a Delhi address before the Supreme Court, he had furnished a Kerala address before a court in Kerala.
The prosecution had objected to this practice, alleging that Nair changed his address depending on the court he approached, without disclosing that Delhi was his permanent address and Kerala his temporary address. The Sessions Court took serious note of these discrepancies.
Ultimately, the court observed that the investigation was still underway and that the chargesheet had not yet been filed. It concluded that there were no grounds to grant anticipatory bail at this stage and dismissed Nair’s application on October 23.
Following the rejection of his anticipatory bail plea by the Ahmedabad Sessions Court, Nair has now approached the Gujarat High Court for relief. His application is scheduled to come up for hearing on November 6, 2026.
