The DNIF, in a statement issued on Thursday, said that the Adani group had “pursued this matter against Paranjoy Thakurta relentlessly.
DIGIPUB News India Foundation (DNIF), the association for digital news platforms and independent journalists, has condemned the arrest warrant issued by a court in Gujarat for senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta for the alleged defamation of the Adani Group in an article co-authored by the journalist in 2017.
The DNIF, in a statement issued on Thursday, said that the Adani group had “pursued this matter against Paranjoy Thakurta relentlessly. DIGIPUB News India Foundation called upon the Adani group to desist from such intimidation of a journalist who is doing his job. The article is a piece of journalism and cases being filed against Thakurta for it undermines the right to freedom of expression that’s guaranteed to journalists – and indeed every citizen – by India’s Constitution.”
Any such “attempt” to “suppress or punish critical journalism by governments or corporations is detrimental to not only the freedom of the press but also the very idea of democratic accountability, the body added. It said that at a time when democratic values are faced with challenges all over the world, it was necessary to “strengthen, not assault press freedom that is often celebrated as the fourth pillar of democracy.”
“We condemn such hounding of journalism by the Adani group and ask for the withdrawal of these cases so that he can pursue his professional work as a journalist without fear,” DIGIPUB News India Foundation said in a statement.
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