On Tuesday, the Court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal has taken cognizance of Vivek Doval's criminal defamation suit against The Caravan magazine for publishing an allegedly defamatory article titled "The D-Company."
The article states that Vivek Doval directed a hedge fund in the Cayman Islands, which is a tax haven. Congress Leader Jairam Ramesh who also alleged in a press conference that the hedge fund was used to illegally or unlawfully draw off money before demonetization and later it was used to recover that money through Foreign Direct Investment. Therefore Doval's complaint mentioned Jairam Ramesh and the article's author, Kaushal Shroff as accused persons. Vivek Doval complained that due diligence was not carried out and The Caravan, the author or Ramesh made no efforts to verify the content of the alleged article. Doval also claimed that Cayman Islands is being associated with black money belonging to India only and not globally.
He complained that the Article was used “as a political tool to foster in unscrupulous hands to seek vendetta and wreak vengeance.” The alleged article’s analysis suggests that Accused No. 3 (the Author) intentionally in bad faith, wrote the article so that the average reader perceives the facts narrated therein in a contaminated colour which is harmful to the Complainant’s reputation. Vivek Doval referred the title of the Article as scandalous as it suggests a link with the most wanted Indian criminal, Dawood Ibrahim. The Accused No. 2 (The Caravan) and 3 with malicious intent have used the title of the article as " The D-Companies " giving rise to a preconceived notion in the minds of the readers against Vivek Doval and his family. The Court can take judicial notice that D Company is a reference that is often made to one of the most wanted Indian criminals, Dawood Ibrahim.
It was argued that an analogous reference to the business of the Complainant is in bad faith and is a clear reflection of the intention of the accused in bad faith. Vivek Doval stated the article’s huge publicity and Ramesh's behaviour caused permanent damage to his reputation.Vivek Doval also clarified that the work to establish the Fund began months before the demonetization and that the final release of the Fund took place before the announcement of demonetization was a mere coincidence.It was also stated that the statements/insinuations made by the accused in bad faith are false.On the contrary, the insinuations were made so by the accused, in active participation and involvement of each other, with the concrete awareness that the accusation will damage the reputation of the complainant and his family keeping in view the approaching elections in India.The matter would now be heard on January 30 when the Court would record the testimony of Doval's witnesses namely Doval's business partner, Amit Sharma and his friend Nikhil Kapoor both of whom have been named as witnesses before the Court. Doval, as represented by his lawyer DP Singh, will also depose before the Court.
Courtesy/By: Subhasri Chatterjee
|
23 Jan 2019
