Anil Ambani Withdraws Defamation Case Against Cobrapost, Economic Times in Delhi Court

The suit was withdrawn with liberty to file a fresh case on the same cause of action.

Senior Civil Judge Vivek Beniwal of the Karkardooma Courts allowed the withdrawal after Ambani’s counsel submitted that he had received instructions from the plaintiff to withdraw the matter. Recording the statement, the court disposed of the suit as withdrawn in an order dated December 10, 2025.

“Ld. Counsel for the plaintiff submits that he has received instructions from the plaintiff to withdraw the present matter with liberty to file a fresh suit on the same cause of action… In view of the same, present suit stands disposed of being withdrawn,” the Court recorded.

The next date of hearing, earlier fixed for January 15, 2026, was cancelled, and the file was directed to be consigned to the record room.

The withdrawal came weeks after the court, on November 17, 2025, declined to grant Ambani an ex parte ad interim injunction restraining the media outlets from publishing the allegedly defamatory material. Ambani had sought immediate removal of the reports without hearing the defendants.

Rejecting the plea, the court had held that the defendants must be given an opportunity to be heard before any restraining order could be considered. The judge cautioned against issuing pre-publication or post-publication restraints without a prima facie determination of falsity or malice. “Without hearing the defendants, it would not be proper to conclude that the statements or publications in question are unverified, inaccurate, malicious or irresponsible,” the Court had observed.

The judge further held that directing removal of the content at that stage would be premature and could violate the constitutional guarantee of free speech.

“Such a course of action risks transgressing the guarantee under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India and would constitute an unwarranted intrusion into the fundamental freedom of speech and expression,” the order said.

The defendants named in the suit included Cobrapost.com, Live Media and Publishers Pvt. Ltd., Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd. (publisher of The Economic Times), and John Doe entities representing unknown persons involved in dissemination of the impugned content.

Ambani’s suit had alleged that the reports accusing his companies of large-scale financial fraud were defamatory, unverified, and had caused serious reputational harm. With the withdrawal, the merits of those allegations remain unadjudicated.

Notably, on November 17, the Court had issued summons in a defamation suit filed by Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani against Cobrapost, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. (publisher of the Economic Times), and other entities over reports alleging that his companies engaged in fraud amounting to more than ₹41,000 crore. The Court, however had refused to grant any interim injunction restraining the publications from reporting on the issue.