The Court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate today granted bail to Editor-in-Chief of The Caravan, Paresh Nath and journalist Kaushal Shroff in the criminal defamation case preferred by Vivek Doval against them..The bail was granted on a personal bond of Rs. 20,000 with surety of Rs 1 lakh..Congress leader Jairam Ramesh was granted exemption from personal appearance for the day after the court was informed that he had personal difficulty..Ramesh’s bail plea will be considered on the day he appears before the court..Judge Samar Vishal had summoned them in the case on March 2 after concluding that their allegations against Doval were prima facie defamatory..Doval had filed the defamation suit after The Caravan published an article titled The D Companies, which alleged that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s sons run a web of companies, including a Cayman Islands hedge fund to round-trip black money in the time of demonetization, even as their father demands a crackdown on tax havens..It was Doval’s case that the insinuations in the Article were made “in a concerted effort to inflict injury” on him and his family. In his statement before the Court, Vivek Doval claimed that the purpose behind the article and the press conference led by Ramesh was to run a “malicious campaign” against the Doval family..He further alleged that the Article which was published without any due diligence, damaged Doval’s professional career and reputation as a hedge fund manager..Judge Samar Vishal had taken cognizance of Doval’s criminal defamation complaint against The Caravan, Jairam Ramesh and author of the article Kaushal Shroff on January 22..Doval was represented by Advocate DP Singh..Paresh Nath was represented by Senior Advocate Rebecca John and advocate Rajat Agnihotri..Kaushal Shroff was represented by Advocates Bhavuk Chauhan and Harsh Bora..Jairam Ramesh was represented by Advocate Omar Hoda..The case would be heard next on May 9.
