Vivek Doval vs The Caravan: Delhi Court to begin recording defence evidence on January 31

With the conclusion of the cross-examination of Vivek Doval’s business partner, Amit Sharma, the Court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vishal Pahuja at the Rouse Avenue Court yesterday closed the post-cognizance complainant evidence by Vivek Doval in his criminal defamation case against The Caravan Magazine, Journalist Kaushal Shroff, and Congress leader Jairam Ramesh..The defence will lead its evidence in the case on January 31..Vivek Doval had filed the defamation case after The Caravan published an article titled ‘The D Companies’, which alleged that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s sons ran a web of companies, including a Cayman Islands hedge fund, to round-trip black money in the time of demonetization..The article suggested overlaps between the brothers’ businesses i.e. Vivek Doval’s GNY Asia Fund and a “web of companies” run by Shaurya Doval, indicating “a larger financial universe run by them, with companies that are connected to the House of Saud, the ruling dynasty in Saudi Arabia”..The cross-examination of Vivek Doval’s business partner as one the complainant witnesses was conducted by Advocates Bhavook Chauhan and Harsh Bora who appear for Kaushal Shroff..During the cross-examination today, several questions pertaining to the performance of the money and the status of its investment were put to Sharma..Sharma acknowledged that after the launch of GNY Asia Fund in November 2016, no new investor invested in the Fund and even the existing investors did not invest any new money..He further accepted that like all global funds, the US-China trade war had impacted the GNY Asia fund performance in 2018 and the initial corpus of USD 11.1 million had gone down substantially..Specifically, the Asian stock market was down by 20-25%, and GNY Asia fund was down in-line with it..The defence thus suggested that the losses suffered by GNY Asia Fund, its closure and the redemption of money sought by its investor had no relation to the publication of the article in The Caravan. It was suggested that the closure of GNY Asia Fund was pursuant to the loses suffered by it over a period of time..Sharma denied the suggestions and it was recorded,.“It wrong to suggest that the losses suffered by GNY Asia fund and its closure was in no way connected to publication of the article….It is wrong to suggest that the investors of GNY Asia fund, including Nick Allan had sought redemption as GNY Asia Fund had been incurring losses for over two years….It is wrong to suggest that the redemption of investment money to the investors of GNY Asia fund was in no way connected to the article….It is wrong to suggest that the article did not lower Vivek Doval’s credibility in the eyes of the investors of the Fund….It is wrong to suggest that no investor was of the view that Vivek Doval should step down as the portfolio manager of GNY Asia fund because of the article….It is wrong to suggest that the coverage of the article was not detrimental to the business of GNY Asia fund..It is wrong to suggest that the liquidation of GNy Asia fund is in no way connected to the article….It is wrong to suggest that the fund was liquidated pursuant to losses suffered by it over a period of time….It is wrong to suggest that Vivek Doval and GNY Asia fund have not suffered any loss of reputation or revenue due to the publication of the article….It is wrong to suggest that my evidence against accused no. 2 and 3 (The Caravan and Kaushal Shroff) is based on misreading the contents of the article..”.During the cross-examination held on the previous hearing, Sharma faced a series of question on his awareness about the fact that Cayman Island did not charge direct taxes..Sharma maintained that he was “generally aware” of lower taxes in Cayman Islands. However, he was not aware of the fact that Cayman Island did not levy taxes and this aspect was being taken care of by one of the service providers of the Fund, Gordian Capital..On being asked today if he ever paid taxes in Cayman Island owing to his position of a unit holder in GNY Asia Fund, Sharma stated that he did not remember..He added,.“It is wrong to suggest that I am purposely evading answer as I am conscious that no taxes were ever paid by me at Cayman Island as no taxes are levied..”.While concluding, Sharma stated,.“It is wrong to suggest that the article represents the truth, was published in good faith, in public interest and for public good..It is wrong to suggest that I have deposed falsely.”