Calcutta High Court has ordered YouTube, X and Instagram to take down a documentary about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and billionaire Gautam Adani, after Adani Enterprises sued the film’s maker, Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia, calling it defamatory.
The interim injunction, issued late on Monday, bars the publication, uploading and sharing of the film until 31 January 2027, or until further orders, according to court reporting of the order. The platforms have been told to remove the video and any clips, excerpts or materially identical copies from the accounts and URLs listed in the petition.
What the court ordered
Justice Aryak Dutt, sitting on the court’s vacation bench, restrained Bhatia and the platform operators — including the owners and operators of X, YouTube and Instagram — from publishing, republishing, uploading or sharing the video through any medium or platform.
The order goes further than removing the original upload. The platforms were directed to disable the engagements through which the video spreads at the listed URLs — reposts, quote posts, shares and similar interactions — and to preserve subscriber information, registration details, IP logs and access logs relating to the accounts and URLs named in the petition.
The matter is due back before the regular bench in January, when the court will consider the case further. Until then, the injunction remains in force.
The film and the lawsuit
The film at the centre of the case is a 36-minute documentary titled “The Friendship Files”, posted by Bhatia, who is based in the United States. Reuters reports that it gathered millions of views on social media in recent days before the court acted.
Adani Enterprises, the Adani group’s flagship company, told the High Court in Kolkata that the documentary was riddled with false content and had prompted inquiries from some of its investors, whom the court order did not name. The company argued that Bhatia had suppressed material facts.
According to Reuters’ account of the order, the court described the film in these terms: “It is not a news report or an account of proceedings. It is a dramatised narrative.”
Adani Enterprises said in its challenge that it does not seek to restrain constructive criticism of government policy or of business concentration — only the film’s allegedly false and defamatory claims.
What Bhatia says
Bhatia, who co-founded the once-popular email service Hotmail and sold it to Microsoft in 1997, has rejected the defamation claim. Writing on X, he said the lawsuit demands 500 million rupees — about $5.25 million — in damages.
“Truth is on my side,” he wrote in one post. In another, he said: “I believe the documentary has rattled Adani Enterprises Limited and struck a nerve at the highest levels.”
Reuters reported that Adani Enterprises, Modi’s office and Bhatia did not respond to its requests for comment, and neither did the social media companies.
Why the case matters
The film accuses Modi and Adani of cronyism — a charge Modi’s political opponents have often levelled, saying the business tycoon has received favourable treatment over the years. Both the Indian government and the Adani group have repeatedly denied those allegations, and the claims in the film remain allegations, not findings of fact.
The case therefore sits at the intersection of two live debates in India: how far courts should go in restraining online speech before a full trial, and how criticism of powerful business and political figures is treated when it spreads rapidly on social media.
Interim injunctions of this kind do not decide whether the underlying claims are true. They are temporary orders, made before the full evidence is heard, and they can be varied or lifted when the case returns to court — here, in January.
For readers in India and abroad, the practical effect is immediate: the film that was circulating widely days ago is now subject to removal orders across the three largest social platforms, with its copies and shares targeted as well as the original posts.
What is still unknown
Several questions remain open. The court order as reported does not name the investors said to have contacted Adani Enterprises, and it does not set out which specific passages the court found defamatory. Whether the platforms have complied at every listed URL, and whether Bhatia will challenge the injunction before January, is also not yet clear.
What happens next will depend on the January hearing, and on whether either side seeks to vary the interim order before then. Emadan will update this article if the court or the parties announce a further development.
Sources
Reuters: Indian court orders takedown of documentary on Adani, Modi
Telegraph India: Calcutta High Court blocks Modi-Adani documentary online till January 31
The Financial Express: Indian court orders takedown of documentary on Adani, Modi
Related on Emadan: INDIA Bloc March to Supreme Court Today Over Vote Claims and Microsoft Offers Voluntary Buyouts to Around 60,000 Employees.
Frequently asked questions
What film was ordered taken down?
A 36-minute documentary titled “The Friendship Files”, posted by Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia, about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gautam Adani.
How long does the takedown order last?
The interim injunction runs until 31 January 2027, or until further court orders, with the case due back before the regular bench in January.
Does the order prove the film’s claims are false?
No. It is an interim order made before a full trial. The cronyism claims remain allegations, which the government and the Adani group deny.
