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Jagmohan Dalmiya goes on the offensive |
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May 20, 2000 New Delhi, May 18 - International Cricket Council (ICC) President Jagmohan Dalmiya today went on the offensive against three publications, suing them for publisihing false, malicious and defamatory articles. Addressing a Press conference here today, Dalmiya disclosed that he had filed a defamatory suit against The Sunday Telegraph of England, it's reporter Scyld Berry and editor Dominic Lawson for publishing "false and defamatory articles" against him. |
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In three separate petitions, Dalmiya claimed Rs 50 crore from each publication for tarnishing his image by running news on match-fixing and betting in cricket involving him. Dalmiya’s suits against India Today and Outlook claimed that the allegations made in their recent issues were "false and malicious, which had defamed his (Dalmiya's) character, reputation and credibility." The suits were filed in the Calcutta High Court by Dalmiya's lawyers, Siddhartha Shankar Ray and Usha Nath Banerjee. "In recent times," Dalmiya said giving his reasons for filing the suits, "several articles, which I have consistently tried to deny, have come out in print about my involvement with any company. It is normal practice to take into account the other side of any story but in these cases, in the urgency to rush with rash news with no truth, I have not been given an opportunity to present my side of the situation. "We had given legal notices on the issue earlier, but the articles continued, forcing me to move court," he added. Asked if The Sunday Telegraph fell into the jurisdiction of the Calcutta High Court, Dalmiya said the field of jurisdiction had been established. After hearing the submission of counsel Siddhartha Shankar Ray who appeared on behalf of Dalmiya, Justice Ronojit Mitra directed The Sunday Telegraph not to publish any news item on cricket and match-fixing involving Dalmiya. Justice Mitra, however, restrained from issuing any direction to Outlook and India Today as notice of the suit was yet to be served on them. Justice Mitra asked Dalmiya to serve notice on them immediately. Ray, in his submission, stated before the court that The Sunday Telegraph had carried two news items on match-fixing involving Dalmiya on April 30. Ray told the court that the news items were “defamatory” and aimed at tarnishing his image in society. Asked whether he saw a conspiracy in this series of stories, Dalmiya said he found the situation "unusual". "The Press is at liberty to have its point of view but my point of view was totally shut out. There are stories about me being debarred from the Finance and Marketing Committee of the ICC, and that I was not allowed to sit in their meeting,” Dalmiya said. “The best proof of that would be the minutes of the meeting, which were signed by several senior officials of the ICC, including eight presidents and three chairmen -- Ali Bacher (development committee), Clyde Walcott (cricket committee) and Ehsan Mani (finance committee)." Asked why he had not filed the case against The Daily Telegraph in England, Dalmiya said since the Calcutta High Court had jurisdiction, it was not felt necessary to file a suit in England, though the option had been left open. Dalmiya said he also had the option of filing a criminal case, as he had done against Agrawal. As regards Agrawal's allegations about about irregularities in the granting of broadcast rights for the ICC Knock-out tournament in Dhaka, Dalmiya said that as ICC chief, he had the right to get involved in financial negotiations for both broadcast and sponsorship deals, which had been bifurcated by ICC. “But in this case, I did not get involved in any financial negotiations, simply because there was no occasion for it." This statement shoots holes into ICC chief executive David Richards' claim that the ICC president has no say in financial negotiations. As regards the match-fixing investigations, Dalmiya said he would be ready to depose before the CBI if they asked him to do so. He added that the judge for the probe in South Africa had been appointed, and an interim report was expected by May 30. However, he, professed ignorance about the progress of the CBI and Delhi Police investigations.
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