Delhi HC restrains Nitin Naresh, others from publishing further defamatory articles against Terra Invest co-founder Krishan Rattan, Ankiti Bose

By By Sushil Batra
New Delhi [India], September 29 (ANI): The Delhi High Court has restrained Nitin Naresh and other defendants from publishing any further articles containing defamatory imputations against Terra Invest co-founder Krishan Rattan, in an interim order passed in a suit concerning articles published on the website Inventiva.
Justice Sachin Datta, in an order dated September 14, 2026, directed that, in the meantime, “defendant nos.1 to 5 are restrained from publishing any further articles containing any defamatory imputations against the plaintiff.”
The Court clarified that the interim direction was issued after considering the prima facie case and balance of convenience at this stage, and would not prevent the defendants from continuing their fact-finding exercise concerning the allegations against Rattan.
The suit has been filed by Rattan seeking declaration, permanent and mandatory injunctions, besides damages, in connection with a series of articles published on Inventiva, which he alleges are false and defamatory. According to the September 14 order, Rattan alleged that the publications contained imputations of fraud, dishonesty, financial impropriety, corporate wrongdoing and misconduct, causing injury to his reputation and professional standing.
The order also records Rattan’s submission regarding proceedings before the Commercial Court of England and Wales concerning the Voltaire Group. He relied on a consent order dated August 5, 2026, under which proceedings against him were discontinued without any adverse finding of fraud, dishonesty or wrongdoing.
The High Court noted that Rattan had also referred to an earlier order dated August 24, 2026, passed in a separate suit filed by his Terra Invest co-founder Ankiti Uday Bose against Nitin Naresh and others. The September 14 order recorded that a similar grievance had been raised by Bose concerning articles authored by defendants and published on the same platform.
In the August 24 proceedings, the court had restrained defendants from disseminating certain impugned articles through LinkedIn or any other social media accounts. The Court also restrained them from publishing any further articles that would have the effect of restraining Bose from exercising her legal rights.
Bose had sought a declaration that the publications and subsequent articles mentioned in her plaint were false and defamatory, along with permanent and mandatory injunctions against their publication, republication, circulation and dissemination.
Bose is an entrepreneur, investor and co-founder of Zilingo Pvt. Ltd., where she served as CEO for about seven years. Her services were suspended on March 31, 2022, pending an internal investigation, and she was terminated on May 20, 2022. The order records her submission that she disputes the allegations forming the basis of her termination, was not provided the investigation report and that there has been no judicial finding of guilt against her.
The August order further records that Bose alleged subsequent publications contained allegations of financial fraud and misconduct and questioned her credibility and conduct before courts. She also alleged that the publications were disseminated through LinkedIn and various professional and start-up communities.
In Rattan’s case, the High Court has directed the defendants to file their replies within four weeks, with a rejoinder, if any, to follow within four weeks thereafter. The matter is listed before the Joint Registrar on October 13, 2026, and the next date of hearing in Court is October 29, 2026.
The September 14 proceedings concerning Rattan are separate from the August 24 proceedings concerning Bose, although the latter order was referred to in the Rattan matter. (ANI)