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A Supreme Court judge on Friday defended the use of sting operations by journalists to expose corruption in the society, reports the TOI

During the hearing of a case a relating to a sting operation against former Union Minister and BJP leader Dilip Singh Judeo, Justice Markandey Katju said: “I totally agree with sting operations. There should be more sting operations. Corrupt elements can be brought to light by these sort of operations.”

Katju said those carrying out stings cannot be treated as criminals. “This is only to expose corruption in society. How can they be equated with criminals?” he asked.

Katju’s remarks contrast the approach of another bench headed by Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan, which has been insisting on an “unconditional apology” from a TV channel reporter who exposed corruption in subordinate courts in Gujarat through a sting operation.

The reporter had obtained bailable warrants from an Ahmedabad court against four prominent persons including then President APJ Abdul Kalam and then Chief Justice of India in 2004.

However, Justice Altamas Kabir, who headed the Bench dealing with the Judeo case, said there was a flip side to the sting operations that was evident in the case of Delhi schoolteacher Uma Khurana.

Source : Times of India

you can leave your views by commenting on this post – The Question is “Sting Operation – Good or bad”

New Delhi, Nov 5 (IANS) Uma Khurana, a schoolteacher who was acquitted of the charge of forcing her students into prostitution and pornography, Monday filed a criminal suit against the owners of the TV channel, Live India, and its reporter for defaming her with their fake sting operation.

“We filed a criminal suit against the Adhikari brothers (owners of the Live India channel), the channel’s chief executive officer Sudhir Chaudhary and Prakash Singh, the reporter who carried out the fake sting expose,” said Khurana’s counsel Vivek Sharma.

“The suit was also filed in the Tis Hazari court against Rashmi, a freelance journalist, and Virender Arora, a businessman, for their collusion with Prakash in deliberately defaming Khurana and her family,” Sharma told IANS, adding that the date of hearing was not fixed by the court yet.

Earlier in the day, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Alok Aggarwal granted bail to Prakash and Virender. The duo was asked to submit their passports in the court.

The TV channel in its ‘exposé’ two months ago had purportedly shown Khurana, a 41-year-old mathematics teacher at the Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya on the Asaf Ali Road in central Delhi, as forcing her girl students into prostitution and pornography.

Following the telecast, an angry mob attacked the school, torched several vehicles parked on the road, and manhandled the teacher. She was dismissed from service by the Delhi government Sep 1 and arrested the next day.

However, it was discovered a week later that the operation was a hoax and the “victim” shown in the sting was, in fact, not a student but an aspiring journalist – Rashmi.

Khurana was granted bail on Sep 11. Last week the court absolved her of all charges.

Prakash was arrested and booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including those related to cheating and criminal conspiracy.

New Delhi, Sep 12 (IANS) Asking the government to formulate policies to restrain TV channels from carrying out vindictive sting operations in the aftermath of the framing of a schoolteacher here, the Delhi High Court Wednesday wanted to know the fate of the Broadcast Bill to regulate the channels.

The court asked, “There have been discussions regarding the bill. The (information and broadcasting) minister has said that the government is bringing the bill. What has come out of it so far?”

A division bench headed by Chief Justice M.K. Sarma directed the information and broadcasting ministry to file its reply by Monday.

The court made a reference to the recent “sting operation” carried out by a private TV news channel purportedly showing government schoolteacher Uma Khurana as running a prostitution racket, though soon the police found it was a fake report.

The court said, “If the sting is concocted, it is your responsibility to take action. Some kind of restriction has to be there. It is not about an individual case but about broader policy.”

The direction came in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by social worker Rahul Verma that cited the case of Khurana.

The telecast of the ‘sting operation’ by Live India last month triggered mob violence in and around the school in central Delhi where Khurana taught mathematics. She was soon arrested and sacked from the job. However, Khurana was released on bail Monday as no evidence was found against her.

With the broadcasters opposing the ministry’s proposal in the bill to regulate news and current affairs content, the controversial Broadcast Bill, which was to be tabled in the monsoon session of parliament, has been shelved for the time being.

As the monsoon session of parliament came to an end this week, there is no chance of the Broadcast Bill becoming a law soon.

New Delhi, Sep 7 (IANS) The Delhi Police Friday arrested the reporter of the television news channel in connection with a fake sting operation, showing a mathematics teacher allegedly forcing schoolgirls into prostitution.

“We have arrested Prakash Singh, reporter of Live India channel, for carrying out a fake sting operation, which showed that Uma Khurana, mathematics teacher of Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, was forcing her students into prostitution,” a senior police official told IANS.

“We are currently interrogating him and it seems that he conducted the sting to ensnare Khurana, who had some financial disputes with his friend Virender Arora,” the official added.

The official said that Prakash Singh also hired Rashmi Singh, a freelance journalist who writes for a Hindi newspaper, to act as victim in the sting operation. She was reportedly part of the conspiracy to frame Khurana.

Police had arrested Rashmi Singh late Thursday. She has been charged with cheating, fabrication of evidence and criminal conspiracy and was produced in court Friday afternoon.

Khurana was arrested last week after the channel telecast the sting operation purportedly showing that she was running a syndicate making pornographic films, featuring her present and former students.