Dear Mr Mukesh Ambani,
You have recently sent a defamation notice to a number of TV channels.
Their “crime” is that they aired the press conference held on the 31st
October 2012 and 9th November 2012, by Prashant Bhushan and me, live. In
our press conference, we presented before the country how you had
illegally pressurized the government into increasing gas prices. We also
told the country that your associates and your companies have accounts
in Swiss banks where black money had been stashed away. Many TV channels
aired our expose live. All these TV channels have now received
defamation notices from you.
I find it quite perplexing. 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. Despite this, instead of sending us the defamation notice, you
have sent it to the TV channels. It is evident that your sole purpose
of sending this notice was to steamroll the TV channels into
subservience.
The people of India want to ask you some straight questions:
Is it not true that the list of those who have accounts in Swiss
Banks, as received by the Government of India, includes your name and
the names of your relatives, your friends and your companies?
Is it not true that a balance of Rs. 100 crores is shown against your name in this list?
Is it not true that you have paid the tax on this amount after this list was received by the Government?
If the above is true, as we suspect it is, it proves that you have
admitted your guilt. As per the law of the land, you should be tried
and, if the charge of tax evasion is proved, you should be sent to jail.
However, this would never happen. Why? Because the Government of India
is intimidated by you. You have been reported as saying that the
Congress Party has been bought by you – it is your dukaan, to be
precise. You are right. according to some media reports, Mrs.
#Sonia_Gandhi
sometimes travels by your personal aircraft. People believe that Mr.
Jaipal Reddy’s ministry was also changed because of your influence.
Why only the Congress? Even BJP and many other parties are in your
pocket. Earlier, Mr. 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.
It appears that almost all parties are afraid
of you. Most leaders are scared of you, too. However, the citizens of
this country are not scared of you. All parties could be your dukaan but
India is not up for sale. India is ours, it belongs to the people of
this country. You can purchase political parties and political leaders
with your money but we will not let India be sold.
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?
1. In 2002, you gave 1 Crore shares with a market price of Rs. 55 per share to Mr.
#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. Presently,
the matter is In court. Didn’t you defame yourself by doing this?
2. 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?
3. 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.
Because the Congress is
in your pocket, it always bowed before your bullying. The Congress kept
increasing the price of gas under your pressure and the nation kept
wailing. Because of you, the prices of electricity, fertilizer and
cooking gas kept rising. When it crossed all limits, Mr.
#JaipalReddy
opposed you. He was the Minister for Oil and Gas at that time. You got
Mr. Jaipal Reddy transferred. Because of you many things have become
increasingly expensive in India and the people are groaning under the
load of these high prices. Do these shenanigans suit you? Do such acts
not defame you?
The list of such illegal acts done by you is quite long.
The majority of the traders, businessmen and industrialists want to do
their work honestly. But the system forces them into wrongdoings. But
when a businessman like you brazenly subverts the system for his
personal benefit, the entire industry and business world gets a bad
name.
You are on one side with immense wealth. On the other
side are the people of this country. The people have now awakened. Fire
is raging in their heart. History is witness that whenever there has
been a clash between money and such rage, the rage has won.
Kindly do not try to intimidate the media of this country. There may be
some mediamen who may have done wrong things themselves. Such
media-persons may succumb to your pressure. However, the majority of
media persons keep the interest of the Country at heart even today. They
are not going to capitulate so easily. History is witness that whenever
the judiciary, bureaucracy and legislature crumbled, it is the honest
fourth pillar, comprising such media-persons that kept democracy alive.
You have invested in some media houses directly or indirectly. It is
possible that these media houses do your bidding. However, the
journalists working for such media houses will not barter their
integrity so easily.
What is your dream? Do you want to become
the world’s richest person through dishonesty? Suppose you became the
owner of all the wealth in this country. Would that make you happy?
Happiness does not increase by accumulating more and more wealth.
Happiness comes with sacrifice. If you stopped doing business
dishonestly and contributed your wealth for the development of the
nation, this country will remember you with pride forever.
With regards,
Arvind Kejriwal
