Vivek Doval alleges that Caravan’s report “The D-Companies” has been published to deliberately defame him “seemingly to settle scores” with his father.
New Delhi: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s son, Vivek Doval, has filed a criminal defamation suit in a Delhi court against news magazine Caravan for a report it published last week allegedly insinuating money laundering charges against a hedge fund he runs.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has also been named in the suit.
In his plea, Doval has alleged that the report, titled “The D-Companies”, has been published to deliberately defame him “seemingly to settle scores” with his father.
The report has been used as a “political tool to foster in unscrupulous hands to seek vendetta and wreak vengeance”, said the plea.
He called his Cayman Islands-based hedge fund, GNY Asia, “legitimate and ethical”.
Doval’s plea added 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,” the plea read.
The report, written by Kaushal Shroff, suggested that the investors of GNY Asia had dubious reputation, some of whom were named in the Panama Papers case.
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‘Political tool’
Doval submitted that not only him but his elder brother, Shaurya Doval, and his companies have also been maligned which clearly reveals that he has been targeted only by virtue of being the younger son of the NSA.
He said Congress leader Ramesh, a Rajya Sabha MP, has been holding press conferences based on the report and making irresponsible media statements to further malign his reputation.
“The entire premise of the Article and the Press Conference is the linking of the venture of the Complainant with the demonetization of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes in India in the year 2016,” Doval said, while summing up the report.
“The only basis of the allegation is proximity in time of the launch of the Fund with the announcement of demonetization. The allegation is completely baseless and the true facts could have been known by the Accused Persons upon a prima facie due diligence.”
The report said that the hedge fund was formed merely within days of the Modi government’s November 2016 demonetisation.
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Fund details
Doval submitted that his employment history clearly reflects the fact that he never used his family’s contacts for deriving any benefits whatsoever, either for education in premier institutes or for employment.
He added that besides him, there are five other investors in his firm — his colleague Amit Sharma, Mohammed Althaf (director of Abu Dhabi-headquartered Lulu Group International), Nicholas Allan (former managing partner of Boyer Allan Investment Management), Syed Ali Abbas (former senior banker, Morgan Stanley and ABN Amro), Kumar Neeraj (executive in British Petroleum and BP), the plea said.
Doval also mentioned the percentage wise investment made by each of them in GNY Asia.
In his submission, Doval said he has invested $300,000 (2.7 per cent), Sharma has invested $200,000 (1.8 per cent), Althaf $10,100,000 (91.0 per cent), Allan $250,000 (2.3 per cent), Abbas $100,000 (0.9 per cent), and Neeraj $150,000 (1.4%), the plea added.
Metropolitan magistrate Samar Vishal is likely to hear the case Tuesday.
I hope this case will be heard on daily basis and some tangible impressions will be available to we the newspaper readers within two months before we go to cast our vote.
This gentleman is completely right in feeling indignant that some insinuations have been made against him just because he is Mr Ajit Doval’s son. According to him, to quote from this article,
“He called his Cayman Islands-based hedge fund, GNY Asia, “legitimate and ethical”.
This may well be true. But why would one choose CAYMAN ISLANDS to set up a finance business when none of the partners belongs to those islands?! This fact itself raises suspicion. But suspicion cannot be the basis for legal allegation. That’s why I feel this case should be heard on daily basis and truth should come out as quickly as possible.