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Vivek Doval in 2019, for alleged defamatory articles against him, filed a defamation case against the senior Congress leader and a magazine. The Additional Chief Magistrate of Delhi Sachin Gupta heard the matter on Saturday.
The former minister in his statement said that he spoke against Vivek Doval in the heat of the moment as it was the time of the elections.
"I gave the statement against Vivek Doval and made several allegations in heat of the moment as it was the time of elections," Jairam Ramesh said.
Ramesh said that his remarks were based on a news article and said some independent verification of the facts may have been in order. "I may have gone overboard in making certain insinuations against you and your family," Jairam Ramesh said.
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"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," Jairam Ramesh said.
Doval told the media that he accepted Jairam Ramesh's apology. "Jairam Ramesh has given an apology, and we have accepted it. The criminal defamation case against Caravan magazine will continue," said Vivek Doval.
Meanwhile, the case against the magazine will continue before a different judge, the case against Jairam Ramesh has been officially closed.
Until now, the case was heard before a special fast track court for MP/MLAs. Now it will go before a regular magistrate court.
In February 2019, Vivek Doval filed a defamation case against a magazine for an article published in January 2019. In the case filed, Doval claimed that false allegations had been published in the magazine and repeated in a press conference by Jairam Ramesh to deliberately malign and defame him and to settle scores with his father.