Author:
Publication: BJP.org
Date: July 27, 2008
URL: http://bjp.org/Press/july_2008/july_2708_p.htm
Shri L.K. Advani, Leader of the Opposition
(Lok Sabha) has written the following letter today to Shri Somnath Chatterjee,
Speaker of the Lok Sabha, in connection with the whistle-blowing operation
by three BJP MPs to expose the "Cash-for-Votes" scandal
New Delhi , 27th July 2008
Shri Somnath Chatterjee
Speaker
Lok Sabha
New Delhi
Subject : Whistle-blowing operation by three
BJP Members of Parliament (Lok Sabha) - Shri Ashok Argal, Shri Mahavir Baghora
and Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste - in the 'Cash-for-Votes' scandal that rocked
Parliament in the recently concluded special session dedicated to the Confidence
Motion moved by the UPA Government
Ref : Petition to you, dated July 25, 2008,
by the three BJP MPs complaining against three UPA leaders in the 'Cash-for-Votes'
scandal
Dear Shri Chatterjee,
I am writing this letter to you in connection
with a serious corruption scandal that rocked Parliament last week and the
crude attempts to cover it up. The following is a response to your decision
to set up a committee to inquire into the above-mentioned complaint made by
the three BJP MPs.
The right to information of the public is
paramount. It stems from the Constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression,
which is indispensable for any vibrant democracy. Indeed, the right to information
and freedom of expression supplement and complement each other, and together
support a vigilant citizenry and accountable democratic institutions.
It is for this reason that the Right to Information
Act has now been made a part of the statute. A principal object of the RTI
is to provide a legal tool to the citizens to demand transparency and expose
corruption in the functioning of democratic institutions.
Democracies around the world have also come
to regard media-assisted whistle-blowing as a right of conscientious citizens.
Indeed, it is on the basis of media reports about a whistle-blowing operation
that a parliamentary committee set up by your Honourable Self disqualified
as many as 11 Members of Parliament in 2005 in what came to be known as the
"cash-for-queries" scandal.
You will agree that the "cash-for-votes"
scandal is far more serious, murky and dangerous than the "cash-for-queries"
scandal. In latter case, the three MPs belonging
to my party have claimed in their petition
to you that they acted as whistle-blowers to expose the murky horse-trading
dealings of the senior functionaries of the constituent parties of the UPA.
They have also affirmed that CNN-IBN agreed to work with them in investigating
the matter and sent a team that actually recorded almost the entire trail
of the bribery operation. The details of the joint operation by them and the
CNN-IBN team is attested by the three MPs in their petition to you.
In any such investigation by a media organisation,
the investigated material does not become the private property of the investigator.
It is held in trust for the public of India and the information its contents
must be shared both with the people at large as well as with the whistle-blowers
(in this case, the three MPs), without whose permission and cooperation the
channel could not have conducted the investigation.
The channel had assured the whistle-blowers
that the recorded tape would be telecast "soon". However, this was
not done. In any democracy, it would be the grossest impropriety if the whistle-blowers
are let down by the media organization that conducted the investigation.
It is unfortunate that the TV channel is now
treating the investigated material as its private property and chosen to impose
a mysterious self-censorship on itself.
Soon after our three MPs had displayed in
Parliament the currency notes they had received as a token amount from one
of the UPA leaders for abstention from the trust vote on July 22, the channel
had announced that it was in possession of the tape and had handed it over
to the Speaker. However, I learnt later that the tape was actually delivered
to your office the following day, after a lapse of over 24 hours. Although
the channel has stated that it retains a copy of the tape and reserves the
right to telecast at a future date, the long delay between the recording of
the tape and its telecast (if and when it happens) would naturally raise grave
doubts as to whether the tape is authentic or doctored.
Our suspicion in this regard has become stronger
by media reports. A front-page report in today's Hindustan Times says: "The
secret videotapes believed to contain images related to the bribes-for-votes
scandal have turned up grainy footage of poor quality picture and audio quality,
sources said." The three MPs have told me that the tapes shown to them
immediately after the recording were of excellent quality.
Against this background, I would like to state
the following:
1) The display of the currency notes by the
three whistle-blower MPs was watched by millions of people across the nation.
Therefore, it stands to reason that CNN-IBN's recording of the whistle-blowing
operation must also be seen by the people at large for them to come to a well-informed
and fair conclusion. People's right to information cannot be circumscribed
in any manner Hence, we urge you to make the tape public without any further
delay.
2) As explained above, the investigation material
pertaining to the whistle-operation by our three MPs cannot be treated as
the private property of the channel. Hence, we urge you to ask the channel
to share the entire unedited tape with the three MPs concerned immediately.
3) There is need to ensure full transparency
and fairness of the inquiry. The partisan and collusive manner in which the
JPC on the Bofors scam functioned is well known to the people of India. Indeed,
you and several opposition leaders at the time had criticized the JPC both
for its functioning and its final report. The Nation expects that this is
not repeated in this case.
Regards,
Yours sincerely,
L.K. Advani