The government asks the high-profile chief of Murdoch's India operation to resign and threatens action against bureaucrats working with private channels.

By Namita Bhandare and N K Singh

This spat between the Government and Basu began on October 11 last year, when Basu -- having just taken over at Star -- got a letter from the Department of Personnel stating he had violated service conduct rules. On October 23, he replied that since he had already foregone his pension benefits -- the punishment for breaking the rule is the loss of pension -- the charges levelled didn't stand.

The Department of Personnel disagrees and believes that Basu was obliged to get government permission to join Star even if he had planned to refuse his pension benefits. And it has shot off a separate letter to News Television India, Star's parent company, giving it an "opportunity" to sack Basu within 15 days.

This battle is just another one in a long war between Star's CEO and the Government which began last July, even before Basu joined Rupert Murdoch's channel. On June 30, Basu -- who as director-general had been credited with commercially rejuvenating dd -- had put in his papers seeking voluntary retirement. He was granted permission and on September 30, at the end of his three-month period of notice, he retired. But even in July, there were rumours that he had been hired by Murdoch on a million dollar-a-year salary. Murdoch, in fact, had visited India on July 19, 1996, ostensibly to pay the then prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda a "courtesy" call. It was during that visit, say ministry sources, that he finalised Basu's appointment.

Basu's first days at Star were controversial. Newscorp, the company owned by Murdoch, had a 50 per cent stake in Subhash Chandra's Zee Telefilms. And the two had an agreement that Star Plus would not venture significantly into Hindi programming. Basu immediately altered that. He stepped up Hindi programmes during prime time on Star Plus, a decision that did not please Zee. Not surprisingly, industry sources suspect that a miffed Chandra, who wields considerable clout in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, is behind Basu's current troubles.

But the ministry's fury has other causes as well. Like Basu waltzing off to Star with the entire team of bureaucrats that worked with him in DD. It is a list that includes Indira Mansingh, DD deputy director-general; V. Basavaraj, DD's controller of programmes; and Urmila Gupta, DD deputy director-general who now heads ISkyB, Murdoch's company for direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting. Predictably, ministry officials were furious. "Had Basu quit on his own, we'd have let things be. But Star is continuing to hire bureaucrats from other ministries as well. We need to tell Star and other tv channels that this shameful attempt to buy clout has to stop," says an official.

In March this year, Basu held a press conference to announce Star's readiness to launch its dth services. Considerably piqued, the then minister for information and broadcasting, C.M. Ibrahim, held an equally well-attended press conference saying that was out of the question unless the pending broadcasting legislation was put in place. Though the law is still pending, last month the Government officially banned dth.

Government officials are cautious about what could be construed as a witch-hunt against one individual. And so sources at the Department of Personnel say that action is also being considered against other officials who've left without seeking necessary permission. These include Ashok Mansukhani, former dd deputy director-general who joined the Hinduja-run IN Network in November last year; another former deputy director-general R.K. Singh who currently heads ESPN; and Ashok Ogra, DD controller, sales, now with Discovery. Over the last two years, 35 senior DD employees have sought voluntary retirement and Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramaniam is seriously considering steps to prevent people from joining rival channels.

Sources at Star fear there is a deeper agenda behind the Government's hardline stand. Basu was hired by Murdoch to turn Star around, but more importantly to deliver on DTH. The message to Murdoch is therefore clear: you've hired someone whose guts this government hates.

Will Murdoch take heed? It is unlikely that he'll create a vacuum in his company just when the Broadcasting Bill is about to become law. Star employees are bewildered. Says Bimla Bhalla, former director-general news, All India Radio, and additional secretary in the Research and Analysis Wing: "I have devoted 32 years to the government. To now be told that I am acting against national interest is extremely galling." Adds Indira Mansingh, currently Star's director of news and current affairs: "Earlier everyone spoke about a cultural invasion. Now Star TV is headed by Indians and they're still not happy."

Ministry officials know that legally they may not have much of a case against the former bureaucrats. But says Subramaniam: "It's more a question of ethics." As Star officials bristle at what they see as a "dirty war" against them by former colleagues, the cabinet secretary's remark seems ironic in more ways than one.

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