Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday tendered an apology to Vivek Doval, son of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, before a Delhi court in connection with a criminal defamation case.
Vivek Doval had filed a defamation case against Jairam Ramesh and Caravan Magazine for their alleged defamatory statements and articles against him. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sachin Gupta heard the matter today.
Ramesh, while tendering the apology, clarified that his remarks were based on a news article and said some independent verification of the facts may have been in order.
"Thus, I would like to offer my apologies to you and your family for any hurt the statements have caused. I would also urge the INC to remove the press releases available on their website," Ramesh said in his statement submitted before the court.
Vivek Doval through his lawyer DP Singh has accepted Ramesh's apology.
The Congress leader had, in a press conference on January 17, 2019, made certain statements against Vivek Doval, his family and his business venture GNA Asia Fund.
"The General Elections were close and the questions raised in the article seemed appropriate for being highlighted in public. In retrospect, I may have gone overboard in making certain insinuations against you and your family," Ramesh said.
"I understand these statements have hurt you deeply. I want to clarify that these statements or accusations, were made drawing conclusions from an article that was published the previous day in the Caravan magazine," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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