Justice Sanjeev J. Thaker of the Gujarat High Court on Friday, November 6, recused himself from hearing journalist Ravi Nair's anticipatory bail plea in a forgery case registered over a Washington Post article alleging that the Central Government directed the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to invest in the Adani Group. The plea will now have to be heard by another bench.

Source: LiveLaw

Nair has sought anticipatory bail in an FIR registered by the D.C.B. Police Station, Crime Branch, Ahmedabad City, under Sections 318(4) (cheating), 336(2) and 336(4) (forgery) and 340(2) (using a forged document as genuine) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The FIR allegations are yet to be proved.

According to LiveLaw, the complaint was lodged in November 2025 by an employee in the Additional Administrative Office of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) at Adani House, Ahmedabad, on behalf of APSEZ under a board resolution dated November 5, 2025. A preliminary inquiry was first taken up by Gandhinagar Police and was thereafter transferred to the Crime Branch in Ahmedabad.

A sessions court had rejected the plea last month

Bar and Bench reported that state police booked Nair in May 2026, that the Kerala High Court granted him transit bail in September for three weeks to approach the competent courts in Gujarat, and that a sessions court in Ahmedabad dismissed his anticipatory bail plea last month. He thereafter moved the Gujarat High Court, where Friday's recusal took place.

Source: Bar and Bench

In a separate criminal defamation case filed by the Adani Group, a Gujarat court earlier convicted Nair and he is currently on bail in that case, both outlets reported. Friday's recusal decides no part of the forgery FIR or the bail plea on its merits; the anticipatory bail request remains pending for hearing before another bench.