S Gurumurthy sends defamation notice to The Economist

Reserve Bank of India board member S Gurumurthy has sent a defamation notice to London-based weekly magazine The Economist for what he termed a libellous article published in November that “questioned his credentials to be on the board of RBI Directors” and his “knowledge of economics.”

In the 15-page notice sent on January 6, the Chennai-based chartered accountant called on The Economist to apologise unconditionally and issue a clarification within the next two issues, among other demands.

“In the event that you elect not to pay heed to the present notice, we will be constrained to institute appropriate legal proceedings, both civil and criminal, and it would be entirely up to you to risk the consequences,” he said.


The magazine had published an article titled, “The person who is doing most to undermine the Reserve Bank of India,” after the government appointed Gurumurthy as a part-time director on the RBI board in August. Gurumurthy took exception to certain comments in the article that he said caused him “irreparable damage.” He denied having had an encounter with economist Jagdish Bhagwati, as mentioned in the article.