Journalist Ravi Nair Withdraws Supreme Court Plea Against Gujarat FIR Over Adani-LIC Article

Journalist Ravi Nair on Wednesday withdrew his Special Leave Petition (SLP) challenging a Gujarat High Court order that refused to quash an FIR registered against him over a Washington Post article alleging that the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) invested in the Adani Group under pressure from the Central Government.

A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta allowed Nair to withdraw the plea after Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for him, said his client would raise all his contentions at the appropriate stage after the charge sheet is filed.

“I have advised my client that as and when charge sheet is filed, we will raise all these points,” Sibal submitted.

The Supreme Court recorded that the petition was being withdrawn while leaving it open for Nair to raise his grievances before the appropriate forum at the appropriate stage.

FIR Over Washington Post Article

Nair had published an article in The Washington Post on October 24, 2025, claiming that LIC had invested $3.9 billion in the Adani Group under government influence.

The article relied on documents purportedly issued by LIC or the Department of Financial Services. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd later lodged a private complaint alleging defamation, following which an FIR was registered against Nair.

The FIR invokes provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, relating to cheating, forgery, using forged documents or electronic records as genuine and other connected offences.

Gujarat HC Had Refused To Quash FIR

Nair had challenged the FIR before the Gujarat High Court, arguing that it amounted to an abuse of the legal process since a defamation complaint based on the same set of facts was already pending.

He also argued that the fact that LIC had denied the article and the documents relied upon did not, by itself, establish that the documents were forged.

The prosecution opposed the plea, submitting that the alleged forgery required investigation and claiming that Nair was not cooperating with the probe.

Adani Ports, meanwhile, argued that the private defamation complaint did not prevent the registration of an FIR for other alleged offences.

The Gujarat High Court had declined to interfere, holding that the mere pendency of a private complaint alleging defamation did not render the FIR an abuse of process.

Court Says Investigation Needed Into Documents

The High Court had also noted that LIC and the Ministry of Finance had disputed the existence of the documents relied upon by Nair in his article.

According to the court, the documents prima facie appeared to be forged and their authenticity required investigation.

The court held that the investigating agency needed to establish the truth regarding the documents and therefore refused to quash the FIR.

With the SLP now withdrawn, Nair has retained the liberty to raise his legal and factual contentions before the appropriate forum at a later stage, including after the filing of the charge sheet.