Presented By-k.shekhar &: Piya Bhattacharya

Sting Operation

Presented By- K.Shekhar & Piya Bhattacharya.

What is it?  Operations designed to catch a person committing a crime by means of deception.

Also known as:  Investigative Journalism  Undercover Journalism

 Sting Operations are often defined as information gathering exercises.  Exercises which expose corruption and misdeeds of people in power.

The Indian Scenario  The practice began some years ago — tiny cameras hidden in handbags or pens of journalists that intruded into the dark recesses of homes and offices of people of consequence to bring out elements of truth that rocked the whole nation.  Cricketers who fixed matches, defence personnel on the take and politicians who had no qualms stuffing money into their drawers were the first lot of people to fall prey to the covert operation.

TEHELKA!!!  Tehelka is an Indian weekly magazine under the editorship of Tarun Tejpal.  Started the trend of hidden cameras to carry out sting operations.  Instrumental in exposing important cases of corruption and misdeeds of the high and mighty.

Impact stories…  Operation West End – 2001 Targeted several members of the then ruling coalition, the National Democratic Alliance, headed by BJP’s Atal Behari Vajpayee. It showed several political figures, as well as army top brass, colluding to take bribes in order to approve defence contracts.

 Gujarat Riots - October 2007 Tehelka published the findings of an elaborate, 6-month long investigation into the 2002 Gujarat Riots that followed the burning of a passenger train carrying Hindu pilgrims. Dubbed Operation Kalank, the sting claimed to show that the riots were not a spontaneous Hindu backlash in response to the Godhra train burning incident, but an organised pogrom carried out in full knowledge and sanction of Gujarat state government

 After Supreme Court recently denounced sting operations as money-making ventures. A Bill, slated to be considered by Parliament has been designed to overhaul the existing Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill and proposes to arm the central government with powers to even cancel the licence of broadcasters in the public interest.  Though there has been no progress in this matter, many see this as an effort by the high and mighty to clip the wings of investigative journalists in an attempt to safeguard their own interests.

Sting in India – Some Cases.  April 2008 – The Indian Hockey Federation. The then Indian Hockey Federation secretary k.Jyotikumaran was caught on camera accepting a bribe from a journalist to include a player into the team for the Azlan Shah Tournament. Following which he was removed and a new committee was set up.

 June 2008 – The Cash for Vote Scam. CNN – IBN captured BJP leaders on camera (hidden of course) admitting to accepting bribe from Samajvadi Party members during the trust vote. The tapes were not broadcasted, but never the less sparked off a controversy.

False Sting operation. Delhi 2007  On August 30th ,Uma Khurana a school teacher from Delhi, lost her job, faced a violent mob and spent a week in jail after a sting operation claimed she lured students into the flesh trade.  On September 10th a Delhi Court granted her bail saying she was a victim.

What can be done?  Introduction of a clause to address “sting operations” in the broadcasting bill.  Journalists should determine “who benefits from such reporting”.  The Legislation must govern the conduct of the media.  Authorities should make sure that news reporting does not become a means of commercial gain.

Lets deliberate…  Can’t we do without sting operations?

 To what extent should the media go to keep a citizen informed?  Do we need stringent laws to keep a check on such activities?

THANK YOU