The Press Club of India on Tuesday (August 18, 2026) expressed shock and concern over the Gujarat police searches against independent journalist Ravi Nair, urging the authorities not to “undermine the very principles independent India was built on”.

The Gujarat police on Monday (August 17) seized devices belonging to Mr. Nair, acting on a search warrant issued by a magistrate court.

“The fact that the police seized five devices — including some belonging to Nair’s son and his colleague Sachi Hegde who happened to be at his residence — without providing a hash value for a single one, is extremely disturbing. Without a hash value, it is impossible to know whether a device has been tampered with after seizure,” it said.

No involvement of son, colleague

Stating that Mr. Nair’s son and Ms. Hegde had nothing to do with the case or the social media post it was based on, the press body said: “It is unacceptable that their devices were also taken away”. It noted that the case pertained to a social media post that Mr. Nair had put out about a story he had co-authored in The Washington Post in October 2025.

“It is noteworthy that the FIR alleging that the story may be falsified, filed by an Adani group employee, names only Nair — not the co-author or the international publication. This hounding of an independent journalist is unacceptable. The raids and seizures have also come at a time when Meta platforms appear to be indiscriminately taking down social media posts even mildly critical of the government,” it said.

“This clampdown on information, while at the same time journalists doing their job are having to pay a heavy price, paints a sorry picture of press freedom in India. The Press Club of India urges the police and government agencies to stop behaving in ways that undermine the very principles independent India was built on,” said the press body.

Published - August 18, 2026 06:12 pm IST