In response to our February profile of Arindam Chaudhuri, the IIPM has
sued The Caravan. Here's why we're fighting the suit.
Published :22 June 2011
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM), whose
director, Arindam Chaudhuri, was the subject of the cover story of our
February 2011 issue, has filed a lawsuit against The Caravan, citing
�grave harassment and injury�. The article, titled �Sweet Smell of
Success: How Arindam Chaudhuri Made a Fortune Off the Aspirations�and
Insecurities�of India�s Middle Classes�, was written by Siddhartha
Deb, a contributing editor at The Caravan and an accomplished writer
and university professor based in New York. Deb�s profile of Arindam
Chaudhuri, which shows how Chaudhuri built an image for himself and
how he runs his educational institution, has been critically praised
for both its thorough reporting and its spirit of evenhandedness. In
the weeks that followed its initial publication, in print and on The
Caravan�s website, the extensive article was widely referenced,
commented on, and shared by readers.
The suit against The Caravan, which seeks huge damages, has been filed
not in Delhi, where both the IIPM and the magazine�s publisher, Delhi
Press, are based, but 2,200 km away in Silchar, Assam, 300 km from
Guwahati, Assam�s capital. The IIPM filed the case at the Court of
Civil Judge in Silchar district, through one Kishorendu Gupta, who
operates Gupta Electrical Engineers in a Silchar suburb, and is the
first plaintiff. IIPM is the second plaintiff.
In addition to The Caravan and its proprietors, the suit charges
Siddhartha Deb, Penguin (the publisher of the upcoming book by Deb in
which the article is a chapter), and Google India (which, the suit
alleges, has been �publishing, distributing, giving coverage,
circulating, blogging the defamatory, libelous and slanderous
articles�).
The civil court in Silchar granted the IIPM a preliminary injunction,
enjoining Delhi Press to remove the article in question from their
website, ex-parte, without any pre-hearing notice.