Media Fearful Of Court Action Weakens Fight Against Corruption

In India’s anti-corruption fight, news networks begin to pay a price

NEW DELHI — India’s headline-grabbing fight against corruption has galvanized the nation but is now beginning to prove costly for its media.

Almost every week brings a fresh accusation of corruption against some high-level figure. But reporting the charges has suddenly become fraught with risk for India’s young private broadcasting industry

Politicians have begun to hit back with threats of legal action and lawsuits against the media and the activists making the accusations, invoking a rarely used defamation law. That has forced newsrooms to consider whether they should stop airing news conferences in which activists deliver tirades against politicians and business leaders, or accept the risk in defense of the public’s right to be informed.

With more than 300 channels, India’s vibrant but shrill television news has by and large been a cheerleader for the anti-corruption movement. Stations have aired many accusations lobbed by activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal, who has called lawmakers thieves, murderers and rapists. Those targeted routinely deny the allegations, and Kejriwal’s critics call his efforts self-serving.

In the past, few Indians bothered to initiate defamation suits, because trials can take decades in the country’s overburdened courts. A handful of plaintiffs have been awarded paltry sums after waiting years for their cases to be resolved. But in a rare case last year, a lower court in the city of Pune ordered a private news television channel to pay a retired judge damages amounting to about $18 million for mistakenly showing his photograph during a story about a judge with a similar name who had been accused of fraud. The channel, which apologized and corrected the mistake on air, has appealed.

But allegations of corruption are harder for the news media to ignore now, because of ahuge groundswell of public anger.

“In the current turbulent phase, stories about corruption no longer begin and end in TV studios and newspapers but they are picked by activists and quickly snowball into street agitations,” said Deepak Sharma, head of investigative stories at the Hindi-language news channel Aaj Tak, which is being sued for a story that accused Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid of stealing money meant for the disabled through a charity run by his wife.

“The story was malicious and untrue, not just unreasonable,” said Louise Khurshid, who filed the defamation suit in a New Delhi court seeking $185,000 in damages. “We are not against free press, but press shouldn’t be irresponsible. Why am I suing? They will be responsible if they have to pay money. That’s what we are doing — making them pay.”

She said she will also sue in Mumbai as well as London, because the story was also aired inBritain.

Sharma said that the story was in the public interest and involved taxpayers’ money and that he had given Louise Khurshid one month to respond before airing it.

India’s 24-hour news networks have become more powerful in recent years, turning into a nightmare for many. They have exposed high-level corruption in preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and irregularities in how telecommunications licenses were awarded. They relentlessly show images of politicians abusing power, making crude remarks or otherwise behaving badly.

But the defamation suits have energized many of the networks’ critics. Nitin Gadkari, the chief of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, has threatened to take two TV channels to court for accusing him of financial irregularities in his business.

Some Hindi news channels now add a disclaimer saying that Kejriwal’s allegations have not been independently verified, but legal experts say that might not be enough to protect the media companies.

“The channels get the ratings, Kejriwal gets his politics, somebody’s reputation gets sullied, and India pays the price because nobody wants to invest here,” said former solicitor general Harish Salve. “We will see more and more channels getting sued in the coming weeks.”

That could hurt Kejriwal’s nascent movement, which relies heavily on broadcast media to appeal to middle-class Indians.

“All this could prove to be a decisive moment for both the news media and protest politics in India because it may redefine defamation, which, in turn, would further redefine the boundaries of free speech,” said Vibodh Parthasarathi, an associate professor who teaches media policy and law at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi.

Last month, Kejriwal was served legal notice that he would be sued for calling Delhi’s chief minister, Sheila Dixit, an agent of private utility companies.

“When non-political players, including activists and journalists, make these shoot-and-scoot allegations, the traditional politician does not have the time to go from one TV studio to another or sit on the street and respond,” said Pawan Khera, political secretary to Dixit. “Taking the legal course is the best option.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/in-indias-anti-corruption-fight-news-networks-begin-to-pay-a-price/2012/11/18/e357e2e2-2fcd-11e2-af17-67abba0676e2_story.html

India Against Corruption takes poll stance, to hold

By Faiz Rahman Siddiqui, TNN | Nov 19, 2012, 04.23 AM IST

KANPUR: After organising a mammoth rally against corruption in Farrukhabad- the home turf and parliamentary constituency of external affairs minister Salman Khurshid- India Against Corruption (IAC) is all set to test its political barometer by holding its first political rally in Kannauj soon after the formation of its political party on November 26 at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar. 

Kannauj is the constituency of Samajwadi Partysupremo Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law and chief minister Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple Yadav. 

Although the Lok Sabha polls are scheduled for mid-2014, the IAC seems to have hit the election mode well in advance. "IAC by and large remained successful in drawing attention of the urban and semi-urban people and now it's time to take the movement to rural India, where 70% of the country's population lives, to spread awareness against corruption," said Omendra Bharat, member of state working committee of the IAC. 

Bharat further informed that the rally would be organised at Teramallu village in Kannauj district, some of whose residents approached senior IAC members including Arvind Kejriwal and apprised them about perennial issues plaguing their village. These included the villagers' grievances against liquor shops. 

"People have been organising protests against liquor shops flouting High Court norms. Earlier, they had issued warnings to liquor shop owners and even met district officials and local Samajwadi party MLA Anil Kumar Dohre asking them to close down the liquor shops operational near schools, temples and residential pockets. But all their efforts have proved futile," he said. 

As per the womenfolk of the village, most of the liquor consumers in the area are perfumery workers or small farmers who spend their hard earned money on liquor, he added. 

Mahendra Pratap Singh, a social worker from Teramallu village who took up the cudgels against liquor shops said, "Dunken brawls are common and liquor consumers pass lewd and ugly remarks on women and girls, creating a law-and-order problem." 

Omendra Bharat said the district administration has been ignoring villagers' grievances for long. IAC will join them in their struggle and stage protests on the streets of Teramallu village where IAC is set to organize a massive rally on December 9. 

The villagers of Teramallu reportedly also apprised the IAC members that they never get the support price set by the government for their crops. The farmers blamed officials of the food department, big landlords and market dealers for exploiting and taking advantage of the situation. "The growers have no option but to sell their produce to middlemen at low prices in the absence of capacity to hold their stocks, which causes huge financial losses to them," said Bharat further. 

The dealers and middlemen are buying wheat from small farmers at Rs 950 per 100 kg compared to the official procurement rate of Rs 1,250. "If the government really wants to help the small crop growers, it should directly purchase wheat from them at the official price," suggested Bharat.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur/India-Against-Corruption-takes-poll-stance-to-hold/articleshow/17273849.cms