Patiala House Court takes cognizance of Vivek Doval’s defamation case against The Caravan

The Court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal today took cognizance of Vivek Doval’s criminal defamation complaint against magazine, The Caravan for publishing an allegedly defamatory article titled ‘The D-Company’..The article claims that Vivek Doval was running a hedge fund in Cayman Islands which is a tax haven..Congress Leader Jairam Ramesh, who conducted a press conference on the story, further alleged that the hedge fund was used for siphoning off money before demonetization, and it was later used to bring back that money through Foreign Direct Investment..Ramesh, along with the author of the article, Kaushal Shroff, has therefore also been named in Doval’s complaint as accused..Vivek Doval has contended that the no due diligence was conducted and no effort was made by The Caravan, the author or Ramesh to verify the content of the article..Doval has also stated that Cayman Islands is associated with black money only in India, and not globally..“…it is not so perceived in developed global financial centers. Cayman Islands is a leading domicile for investment funds housing 11,000 hedge funds and 60% of all assets of the global hedge fund industry estimated at USD 1 trillion.”.He has thus alleged that the Article has been used “as a political tool to foster in unscrupulous hands to seek vendetta and wreak vengeance.”.“An analysis of the Article suggests that the Accused No. 3 (The Author) has purposely and with mala fide intent, scripted the article in a manner that the average reader will perceive the facts narrated therein, only in a certain tainted colour.”.Further referring to the title of the Article, Vivek Doval says that “the title of the Article itself is scandalous to say the least”, as it suggests a link with India’s most wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim..“The Accused No. 2 (The Caravan) and 3, with a mala fide intent, titled the Article as “The D-Companies” creating a prejudice in the minds of the readers against the Complainant and his family. It is well-known and of which judicial notice can be taken by this Hon’ble Court, that D Company is a reference often given to one of the India’s most wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim. A similar reference to the Complainant’s business set up smacks mala fide and is a clear reflection on the mala fide intent of the accused persons”, it has been argued..Stating that the Article itself garnered much publicity and wide viewership, the subsequent conduct of Ramesh “escalated the issue further”..Ramesh’s conduct, Vivek Doval claims, ensured that the damage to his reputation is “permanently etched”..In his complaint before the Court, Vivek Doval has also clarified that the work for setting up of the Fund was initiated months prior to demonetization, and the final launch of the Fund landing up in the proximity of the demonetization announcement was a mere coincidence..It has further been alleged that the statements/insinuations made by the accused persons are far from truth and have not been made in good faith..“To the contrary, the insinuations have been so made by the accused persons, in active connivance with each other, with the concrete knowledge that imputation will harm the reputation of the Complainant and the Doval family.”.It has also been alleged that the insinuations are made “in a concerted effort to inflict injury on the Complainant and his family in view of the upcoming elections”..The matter would be now heard on January 30 when the Court would record the statement of Doval’s witnesses..Doval’s business partner, Amit Sharma, and his friend, Nikhil Kapoor have been named as witnesses before Court. Doval would also depose before the Court..Doval was represented by Advocate DP Singh.