GNY Asia row: NSA Ajit Doval's son Vivek files criminal defamation case against Jairam Ramesh, Caravan

Vivek Doval, son of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, has filed a criminal defamation case against Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and magazine Caravan over an article that talks about companies run by the Doval family. Congress had on Thursday alleged that Vivek, Ajit’s younger son, started a hedge fund in Cayman Islands days after demonetisation and demanded a probe by the Reserve Bank into FDI inflows from the tax haven. The complain says that the accused (Ramesh and Caravan) have “deliberately maligned and defamed the complainant (Vivek)” to “settle scores” with his father (Ajit). “Through calculated insinuations and innuendos raised by way of published articles and press conferences, the accused persons have raised unfounded and baseless allegations against the Complainant, and have caused irreparable damage to his reputation and goodwill….” Moreover, the complaint accuses Ramesh and Caravan of making “grave and serious allegations of money laundering” against GNY Asia (a company run by Vivek, “…without any proof…”) It also accuses Caravan of starting the controversy by publishing the article titled, “The D-Companies”, which was published by the news magazine on 16 January.

Vivek Doval, son of #NSA Ajit Doval, has filed a criminal defamation complaint in a #Delhi court against #Congress MP Jairam Ramesh & Caravan magazine over an article published recently. The magistrate will hear the matter tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/xjhddHU4pJ

— Utkarsh Anand (@utkarsh_aanand) January 21, 2019

Days after the media report had highlighted the issue, Ramesh had asked the RBI to make public details of FDI inflows from Cayman Islands since demonetisation, which he claimed were to the tune of Rs 8,300 crore during 2017-18 and equalled total funds flowing into India between 2000 to 2017. [caption id=“attachment_2823344” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh. PTI[/caption] Ramesh, however, had not substantiated his allegations with any documentary evidence. Ramesh had also alleged that GNY Asia was opened in the Cayman Islands on 21 November, 2016 — 13 days after demonetisation — with Vivek as one of its directors. The former Union minister had also alleged that while there are three more directors of GNY, one of them is Don W Ebanks whose name appears in Panama’s ‘Paradise Papers’ also referred to as ‘Panama Papers’. Alleging that “there is certainly a link between demonetisation and FDI inflows from Cayman islands”, he had said this is a “round-tripping of money” and demanded a probe. “This is not FDI, it is round-tripping of demonetised money and has a direct link to black money…. “There should be a probe into the FDI that came into the country from the Cayman Islands after demonetisation,” he had demanded, saying, “GNA owes an explanation to the country”. “What is the role of GNY Asia in FDI inflows. We demand that the Reserve Bank makes public all funds from where money has come into the country from the Cayman Islands,” Ramesh had told reporters. He had said the RBI should publish details of all those who brought in money from Cayman islands. “There should be complete information on this made available to the public,” he said, adding “the RBI should probe the identity of funds who brought in 8,300 crore in one year”. Ramesh had also sought to know what are the relations between Vivek’s fund GNY Asia and Zeus Capital, another company in which his brother Shaurya has business interests. He recalled that Ajit Doval should implement what he had advocated eight years ago as part of a panel of BJP on black money stashed abroad, in which he demanded that there should be a strict crackdown on tax havens and such offshore entities. The Cayman Islands are an autonomous British Overseas territory in the western Caribbean Sea, which is considered a tax haven. With inputs from PTI