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New Delhi: Veteran independent journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta’s websites and its associated subdomains like adanifiles.paronjoy.in have been taken down from the internet. This was done without any prior warning or intimation, and stands as the digital erasure of “several decades of work.”

The shut down, according to Guhathakurta, took place mere days after he was served an ex-parte order by Sameer Gahlaut, the chairman of real estate and financial services group Indiabulls, regarding an article that was published seven years ago on Newsclick.

On X, the journalist has shared a timeline of events leading up to the deletion of his online archive. On October 24, the day Gahlaut obtained the injunction, an order “directed the removal and de-indexing of the article.” While he was in process of challenging the order legally, Gehlaut submitted a take down complaint to Google LLC on October 26. 

PUBLIC STATEMENT BY PARANJOY GUHA THAKURTA On the arbitrary takedown of https://t.co/TMPhYqaVhe by Hostinger following legal notices from Indiabulls founder Sameer Gehlaut October 31, 2026 On the morning of October 28, 2026, my website https://t.co/OeAAoTPXCy and all its associated subdomains, including https://t.co/I8kylhDXVk and https://t.co/D8b6LtNzWD, were abruptly taken offline by our web hosting provider, Hostinger (HOSTINGER operations, UAB). The website, registered twelve years ago, serves as an online archive of my work over several decades as a journalist, author, publisher, and maker of documentary films and music videos Hostinger gave no prior intimation, warning, or opportunity to respond before suspending the entire hosting account. When my colleague contacted Hostinger “Support” at 6:48 AM on October 28, a hosting “specialist” stated that the suspension was triggered by an abuse report for “Fraud/Scam” and declared that “unsuspension is not negotiable in this case.” This sudden shutdown of an entire repository under the label “Fraud/Scam” happened just days after Sameer Gehlaut, founder of the Indiabulls group, served me with an ex parte court order demanding the removal of a single article published more than seven years on https://t.co/25noyNupwJ. For over six years, Indiabulls and Shri Gehlaut have pursued legal action over this report and I have consistently defended our journalistic report in court. Here is the timeline: · March 11, 2020: Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited filed a criminal defamation complaint (CC No. 1765/2020) before the Patiala House Courts, New Delhi, against NewsClick, its Reader’s Editor Urmilesh, co-author of the article Sourodipto Sanyal, NewsClick editor Prabir Purkayastha, and me over an article published on the website on September 30, 2019. · June 6, 2025 and July 9, 2025: More than five years after the complaint was filed, a Judicial Magistrate at Patiala House Courts passed an order on June 6, 2025, dropping proceedings against Shri Purkayastha while issuing summons to the remaining four accused, including me, under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code. A formal summons was issued on July 9, 2025, for appearance on July 30, 2025. · August 27, 2026: Counsel for Shri Gehlaut, sent me a legal notice demanding the takedown of the article within 24 to 48 hours, claiming that a status report by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police had altered the factual position. · September 2, 2026: My counsel sent a reply pointing out concerns with the legal notice · October 24, 2026: Indiabulls Nests Limited (Plaintiff No. 1) and Sameer Gehlaut (Plaintiff No. 2) obtained an ex parte ad interim injunction from the Court of one of the District and Sessions Judges, Patiala House Courts, New Delhi, in Civil Suit No. 529/2026 (Indiabulls Nests Ltd. & Anr. v. Ashok Kumar/John Doe & Ors.), in which I am arrayed as Defendant No. 19. The order directed the removal and de-indexing of the article on https://t.co/TMPhYqaVhe (listed as Item A-33 in Schedule A). · October 25, 2026 (10:13 AM IST): Advocates representing Indiabulls Nests Limited and Sameer Gehlaut, emailed me the October 24 court order and suit documents, demanding immediate deletion and written confirmation of compliance. · October 26, 2026 (11:33 PM IST): Sameer Gehlaut personally sent an email from his official address (sameer@indiabulls.com) demanding the immediate deletion of the URL from https://t.co/TMPhYqaVhe and threatening to move the court under Order XXXIX Rule 2A of the Code of Civil Procedure if I did not comply, noting that the matter is next listed on December 18, 2026. While I was in the process of challenging the order dated 24.10.2026 before higher forums, on the same day, advocates representing Shri Gehlaut submitted a court order takedown complaint to Google LLC. · October 28, 2026 (3:16 PM IST): Google Search Console sent an automated notice ([WNC-598900]) informing me that Google was blocking the specific URL https://t.co/SsSVUVLKGX from appearing in search results on https://t.co/2IOZ4I1WqC. The Lumen Database record........

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