Why file defamation case against TV channels, why not against me? Arvind Kejriwal asks Mukesh Ambani

By A Representative
Aam Aadmi Party leader Mukesh Arvind Kejriwal has taken strong exception to top tycoon Mukesh Ambani sending a defamation notice to a number of TV channels for their “crime” that they aired the press conference held on October 31, 2012 and November 9, 2012, by Prashant Bhushan and him, live. In their press conference, they had alleged how Ambani “illegally” pressurized the government into increasing gas prices. They further alleged that Ambani's associates and companies had accounts in Swiss banks where black money had been stashed away.
Finding this “perplexing”, Kejriwal said, “If you felt that you have been defamed by what Prashant Bhushan and I said, then we are the real culprits and, if you had to send a defamation notice, it should have been to us. The TV channels merely broadcast what we said. It is evident that your sole purpose was to steamroll the TV channels into subservience.”
In an open letter to Ambani, Kejriwal repeated his allegations, asking the tycoon whether it was true the list of those who have accounts in Swiss Banks, received by the Government of India, included Ambani's name and the names of your relatives, his friends and his companies. “Is it not true that a balance of Rs 100 crore is shown against your name in this list?”, he has asked, adding, “Is it not true that you have paid the tax on this amount after this list was received by the government?”
If all this were true, Kejriwal says, under the law of the land, Ambani should be “tried” and, if the charge of tax evasion is proved, he should be “sent to jail.” But this would never happen, because, according to him, “the Government of India h intimidated” by Ambani. “You have been reported as saying that the Congress Party has been bought by you – it is your dukaan, to be precise”, Kejriwal points out, giving the example of Sonia Gandhi “sometimes” travelling by his personal aircraft.
“Why only the Congress?”, Kejriwal asks. “Even BJP and many other parties are in your pocket. Earlier, Advani used to make a lot of noise about Swiss Bank accounts, but since your accounts have been exposed, BJP has suddenly gone quiet. BJP has not mentioned a single word in the Parliament about your accounts.”
“You say that the TV channels have tainted your reputation by airing our press conference live. That’s wrong. I would urge you to answer this question honestly – Did Prashant Bhushan, myself and the TV channels defame you or did you defame yourself through your own misdeeds?”, wonders Kejriwal, adding, “In 2002, you gave 1 Crore shares with a market price of Rs. 55 per share to Pramod Mahajan at just Rs. 1 per share. This was a straight bribe to get ‘full mobility’. When you were caught, you took back the shares.”
Further, Kejriwal has said, “You have made your multistoreyed residence on Wakf land. This land had been set aside for an orphanage. You have stolen the right of poor and orphaned Muslim children. Didn’t you defame yourself by doing this?”
He adds, “A few gas wells belonging to the country were allotted to you in 2000. You were supposed to extract gas and give it to the government. The gas belongs to us, the people of India. We are the owners of this gas. You were only a contractor appointed to extract the gas. However, cleverly you became the owner of the gas.” You started ‘selling’ the gas to the government.”