Vivek Doval records statement in defamation suit against Jairam, magazine

Vivek Doval, son of National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, on Wednesday recorded his statement saying that Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, The Caravan magazine and an author, through a defamatory article have raised questions over the integrity of his family, especially his father. Vivek Doval told Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal that the accused persons have caused irreparable damage to his reputation and career through the defamatory article.

The article referred to his family as the D Companies, whereas the D company is a term coined for Dawood Ibrahim, India's most wanted criminal, he told the court while testifying as a complainant witness in the case. He told the court that his father was a target of the malicious campaign led by the accused persons.

Vivek Doval also said that the accused persons with malafide intention made a defamatory statement on the basis of false accusation. After recording his statement, the court listed the matter for February 11 for recording the statements of other complainant witnesses.

Vivek Doval, in his plea, has alleged that the article intended to harm his reputation and business and these were punishable under the Indian Penal Code. The magazine had in its January 16 online journal titled, "The D Companies" had said that Vivek, "runs a hedge fund in the Cayman Islands" which is "an established tax haven" and was "registered merely 13 days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government demonetised all existing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, in 2016".

Earlier Vivek Doval's counsel D.P. Singh told the court that a hedge fund cannot be set up overnight, or in a matter of days and the title of the article 'The D-Companies' itself is scandalous and it is creating prejudice in the minds of the readers against the complainant and his family.