Bhagwati CGHS Sends Response to Show Cause Notice for Defamation
Bhagwati CGHS Sends Response to Show Cause Notice for Defamation
October 30, 2018
By Rakesh Raman
As a journalist, I had sent a show cause notice for defamation to Bhagwati CGHS, Sector 22, Dwarka, New Delhi on October 14, 2018. When I did not receive a response, I had informed Delhi Police and other authorities about it on October 22.
However, with his letter dated October 24, 2018, the President of Bhagwati CGHS, Mr. Ashish Jain, sent me his response to my notice. The 4-page letter sent by him is full of some loose information about the persisting turmoil in the Society including the ongoing conflicts with different members. You can click here to read the letter.
As regards my defamation notice sent to him, the Bhagwati CGHS President has tendered an “unconditional apology” to me. However, in a paradoxical statement, he has asked me also to publish an apology for the defamatory and untrue article against the Society.
This is a ridiculous request by the Bhagwati CGHS President because on the one hand he is offering an unconditional apology to me, but on the other hand he is asking me to apologize. If he thinks that my article is wrong, why is he offering his apology to me? With his confusing statements, the Bhagwati CGHS President is trying to hoodwink and insult me again. I fully stand by my article.
He has also said that the defamatory words that he had used in his circular were not against me, but were against the Bhagwati CGHS members. This is again a blatant lie.
The exact words used by him in the circular (reproduced below in this article) were: “I shall like to inform our members that in the race of blackmailing a so-called Mr. Rakesh Raman – Managing Editor, Raman Media Network, Dwarka has also jumped in to have his share of cake.”
This is clearly a brutal attack by the President of Bhagwati CGHS, Mr. Ashish Jain, on my fundamental right to freedom of expression and speech as a journalist. Instead of feeling sorry clearly and unambiguously for his slanderous attack on my reputation and editorial responsibilities, unfortunately the President of Bhagwati CGHS has preferred to add fuel to the fire by making false and contradictory statements in his cover-up attempt.
The case is described below.
Show Cause Notice for Defamation Sent to Bhagwati CGHS President
I had sent a show cause notice for defamation to Bhagwati CGHS. Since I did not receive any response from Bhagwati CGHS, I am informing the police and other authorities about this case before taking further action on it.
To
Mr. Amulya Patnaik, IPS
Commissioner of Police
Delhi
Copy:
Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore
Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting
Govt. of India
Kind Attention: Mr. R. N. Sharma, Special Secretary to LG Delhi for necessary action
October 22, 2018
Dear Police Commissioner,
I am a government’s national award-winning journalist and social activist. Earlier, I have worked with the United Nations (UN) through United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a digital media expert.
Now, along with my other social and media services, I have been running a free community-driven online editorial service under the banner “Clean House” to help the suffering residents raise their voice against the growing corruption and injustice particularly in the housing societies of Delhi.
It works as an interface to inform the government departments and law-enforcement agencies in India and abroad about the cases of corruption and other illegal activities happening in Delhi’s cooperative group housing societies (CGHS).
Since many corrupt managing committee (MC) members of housing societies and government officials are facing government inquiries because of my comprehensive media reports against them, they have been trying to intimidate and harm me.
Current Case
As I have been writing about Bhagwati CGHS which has been in the eye of the storm because of multiple corruption and fraud inquiries initiated by the government, the MC of Bhagwati CGHS led by its President is trying to defame and threaten me.
I urge you to protect me from these threats and persecution which is aimed to gag my voice as a journalist.
Please find below the letter / email that I had written to the Bhagwati CGHS President.
To
Mr. Ashish Jain
President
Bhagwati CGHS, Plot No. 1A
Sector 22, Dwarka, New Delhi – 110 078
October 14, 2018
Subject: “Show Cause Notice” for false allegation and the use of defamatory language against me for my editorial work
Dear Sir,
I am a government’s national award winning journalist and social activist. I also run a free online social service “Clean House” on my news network to help the residents of Delhi raise their voice against corruption and fraud in cooperative group housing societies.
As some members of Bhagwati CGHS have been requesting me to write about the ongoing case in your Society, I have written about it. A couple of days ago, I received a letter dated 01.10.2018 titled “CIRCULAR” that you have signed as the President of Bhagwati CGHS.
In the said letter, you have baselessly used some derogatory remarks against me to suggest that I am trying to “blackmail” you. The portion of the said letter with your signatures is published below for your ready reference. Moreover, in order to tarnish my image in public, you have circulated this letter among perhaps hundreds of members.
In fact, you have expressed your reaction in this obnoxious manner to one of my articles about Bhagwati CGHS that was published on September 29, 2018 in the Dwarka City newspaper. But before writing this article, I had sent you an email dated September 24, 2018 to take your comments for the article. But you did not respond.
When the article was published, instead of commenting about the article content, you chose to defame me by openly circulating unfounded defamatory comments about me while stating my name and the name of my news network “Raman Media Network” in your said letter.
Thus, you have not only defamed me, but you also have attacked my editorial freedom and my freedom of expression and speech guaranteed to me by the Constitution of India through Article 19. This is also a case of criminal intimidation to suppress my voice as a journalist, as I have been writing against corruption and other illegal activities.
In view of these facts, you are requested to immediately (on or before October 16, 2018) send me your response letting me know why I should not take legal / administrative action against you to claim compensatory damages and punitive damages from you for publicly defaming me and attacking my editorial responsibilities.
If I did not receive your response by October 16, 2018, I will assume that you have nothing to say in this matter and it was a deliberate manoeuvre by you to defame me and attack my freedom to express as a journalist.
Since I did not receive any response from Bhagwati CGHS, I am publishing this report here on my news site before taking further action in this case.
About Me – Rakesh Raman
Rakesh Raman is a government’s national award-winning journalist and social activist. Besides working at senior editorial positions with India’s leading media companies, he had been writing an edit-page column for The Financial Express, a business newspaper of the Indian Express group.
Nowadays, for the past over 7 years, he has been running his own global news services on different subjects. He also has formed an environment-protection group called Green Group in Delhi.
He is running a community-driven free online social service under the banner “Clean House” to help the suffering residents of Delhi raise their voice against the growing corruption and injustice in group housing societies where millions of people live. He edits The Integrity Bulletin newsletter which covers corruption issues in India and abroad.
He has created a comprehensive online information service to educate the Indian voters for the upcoming Lok Sabha election scheduled to happen in 2019.
He has formed a free Education and Career Counselling Center for deserving children at a poor J.J. Colony in Dwarka, New Delhi under his NGO – RMN Foundation.
Earlier, he had been associated with the United Nations (UN) through United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a digital media expert to help businesses use technology for brand marketing and business development.
Contact
Rakesh Raman
463, DPS Apts., Plot No. 16, Sector 4
Dwarka, Phase I, New Delhi 110 078, INDIA
You may please contact me on my email.
