Court nod for Doval defamation suit against Jairam, Caravan

A Delhi court on Tuesday took cognizance of a defamation complaint filed by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval's son Vivek Doval against Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, The Caravan magazine and an author for publishing a defamatory article against him. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal listed the matter for January 30 for recording the statement of complainant Vivek Doval and two witnesses.

Vivek Doval has alleged that the article intended to harm his reputation and business and these were punishable under the Indian Penal Code. The magazine claimed that Vivek Doval was running a hedge fund in the Cayman Islands.

Vivek Doval told the court that through calculated insinuations and innuendos raised by way of published articles and press conferences, the accused had raised unfounded and baseless allegations against him and have caused irreparable damage to his reputation and goodwill that he had earned for himself over years of hard work. "The article as well as press conferences have unrestricted access through the Internet across the globe including New Delhi," the complaint said.

Vivek Doval also told the court that the statements made by the accused were far from the truth. "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," said the complaint filed by Vivek Doval.

He said that the accused made no effort to verify any of the imputations, which itself reflected their mala fide intent.