The Hindu : 'There was no need for more verification'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 05, 2002

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'There was no need for more verification'

By Our Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI July 4. "If only the Government or any authority had prior knowledge of our investigation into the defence deals, our lives would have been in danger'', the Tehelka reporter, Anirudh Bahal, said before the Justice Venkataswami Commission.

When Mr. Bahal, the brain behind the ``West End Operation'', was asked as to why he and his team had not verified the facts and had not taken due care and caution before telecast of the tapes relating to politicians and Army officers, he said when evidence was already there on the tapes there was no necessity for further verification.

He said "should I have asked the former BJP president, Bangaru Laxman, whether he took money or the former Samata Party president, Jaya Jaitly, whether she takes money''.

He said the whole system and the Government got indicted by the tapes. "If people in authority had known about our investigation, it would have resulted in serious implications for our safety''. He denied the allegation that the whole exercise was carried out with malicious intentions and purely for commercial gains.

Meanwhile, the Editor-in-Chief of the portal, Tarun Tejpal, gave certain clarifications regarding filing of income tax returns by him in the last two or three years.

Reporter remanded

PTI reports:

A court in Saharanpur today remanded Tehelka news portal reporter, Kumar Badal, arrested in connection with a poaching case, to a day's judicial custody.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Sudhir Kumar Gupta, ordered Mr. Badal's remand and said the CBI's request for his 14-day remand would be taken up for hearing tomorrow.

Mr. Badal was sent to the district jail of Saharanpur.

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