India, Sept. 19 -- A Delhi court has set aside an order that directed four journalists to remove alleged defamatory content against Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL), ruling that the sweeping directive effectively decided the case without trial and violated constitutional free speech protections.

District Judge Ashish Aggarwal said the civil court's September 6 order was "not sustainable" and asked it to pass a fresh order after hearing both the journalists and AEL. The journalists - Ravi Nair, Abir Dasgupta, Ayaskanta Das, and Ayush Joshi - had challenged the earlier ruling, arguing it silenced critical reporting without giving them a chance to defend their work.

The court noted that unless journalists were heard, it could not be assumed...