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THE NATION: TEHELKA
EXPOSE
The Truth Uncovered
Revelations that call girls were used in the sting operation
incense politicians but there is an awkward flipside
By Sayantan Chakravarty
When Tehelka.com
first released its tapes in March this year, it exposed the vulnerability
of the Indian defence establishment. What the portal didn't disclose,
however, was that it didn't limit its sting operation to bribery and play-acting.
A newspaper report revealed on August 22 that Tehelka journalists had
arranged call girls for three defence officials and even filmed them having
sex.
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NOT JOURNALISM: Jaitly |
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SAMATA CHARGES
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# Since Tehelka has openly admitted supplying prostitutes to
three army officers and filming them in the act, it should be
prosecuted under the provisions of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention)
Act.
# The initial footage indicated that the Tehelka team entered
George Fernandes' residence in the day, but all subsequent conversations
took place during the evening.
# Tehelka is selective with facts. At several places its transcripts
says voices are inaudible but during screening before the inquiry
commission they come out clearly. Its motives aren't journalistic.
# A defence official is shown receiving a gold chain which he
returns. The transcript says he received it plus Rs 50,000 cash.
Is Tehelka guilty of manufacturing evidence?
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SEE THE MOTIVE: Tejpal
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TEHELKA RETORTS
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# Tehelka wanted to expose the rot in the defence set-up and behaved
like arms dealers. How does Samata explain its functionary offering
to procure women in order to cosy up to defence suppliers?
# The initial footage was part of a dry run of Fernandes' residence
carried out by Tehelka. The actual conversations took place in the
evening.
# These are small technical errors that may have crept in during
editing. Motives are being attributed to distract attention from
the evidence of sleaze and corruption. Tehelka isn't part of any
conspiracy.
# The limitations of the spycam and the hush-hush nature of the
operation did not always allow filming of cash changing hands. The
money was paid through a general.
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The revelation has turned the tables on Tehelka,
providing its detractors the much-needed ammunition to hit back. Till
now the arguments against the website's innovative investigative methods
had not found too many takers outside the NDA circles. The disclosure
that prostitutes were procured for licentious army officers raised ethical
questions and dislodged Tehelka from the high moral ground it occupied
five months ago.
A smug Samata Party, which had been licking
its wounds since its leader George Fernandes was forced to step down as
defence minister after the scandal, struck back with a vengeance. "There
cannot be any doubt that a crime against the country has been committed,"
Fernandes said in Parliament. Added party MP Raghunath Jha: "If prostitutes
were hawked, then certainly an offence is made out." Angry Samata
MPs demanded the arrest of the Tehelka CEO.
The Samata is not the only party to feel indignant.
Many politicians across the ideological spectrum, including Madhavrao
Scindia, deputy leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, and former prime
minister Chandra Shekhar denounced the methods employed by Tehelka in
its attempts to uncover corruption. The Government agreed whole-heartedly
but stopped short of accepting the suggestion that the Tehelka journalists
should be arrested and prosecuted for immoral trafficking. The last thing
it wanted was the issue snowballing into a dispute over media freedom.
Besieged by its detractors, Tehelka hit back
spiritedly. A day after the report on the use of call girls disrupted
the Lok Sabha, the portal released undisclosed portions of its conversations
with R.K. Jain, the former national treasurer of the Samata. In the previous
tapes Jain had come across as a boastful middleman who said he could introduce
the Tehelka team to the "right people" and help the fake company
(West End) enter the defence market. In the newly released tapes he comes
out as little more than a pimp, openly proclaiming his skills in arranging
call girls for arms dealers. At one point, he invites the Tehelka team:
"We'll hire a room in a hotel, get the best call girls and enjoy
for 7-10 days."
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