On March 22, the Supreme Court set aside an interim order that directed news organisation Bloomberg to take down an article alleged to be defamatory against Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. Urging Courts to exercise greater caution while examining defamation cases against media platforms, Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra highlighted that, “…the grant of a pre-trial injunction against the publication of an article may have severe ramifications on the right to freedom of speech of the author and the public’s right to know.” What’s the case about? A Delhi Court had ordered Bloomberg to take down the article regarding Zee’s financials titled ‘India Regulator Uncovers $ 241 Million Accounting Issue at Zee’, on March 1, 2024. The order also restrained Bloomberg from further circulating or publishing the article in question on any online or offline platform until the next hearing, scheduled for March 26, 2024. The Delhi Court order came in response to Zee’s complaint which alleged that the content of the article is related to its “corporate governance and business operation”, is speculative in nature, and caused economic damages to the company. While passing the ex-parte ad interim injunction, the additional district judge Harjyot Singh Bhalla of Saket Courts found that “irreparable loss and injury” may be caused to Zee, if the injunction is not granted. The Delhi High Court upheld the lower court’s order on March 14. An ex-parte ad interim injunction is an urgent order passed without any notice to the defendant…
