It was March 2001. Tehelka, a news outfit founded by Tarun Tejpal, decided to ‘uncover’ corruption within the defence establishments and political circles.
They floated a fake company by the name of ‘West End International’ and set out to sell hand-held thermal cameras/ imagers to the Government of India.
‘Journalists’ Aniruddha Bahal and Mathew Samuel posed as ‘arms dealers’ and tried to secure defence contracts as part of their sting dubbed ‘Operation West End.’
Tehelka’s team employed hidden cameras and audio recording devices to capture conversations with high-ranking officials and politicians involved in defence deals.
The undercover investigation spanned several months. Some prominent politicians, bureaucrats, and army personnel were caught on camera accepting bribes and discussing kickbacks in defence deals.
Tehelka was soon in the dock over entrapment charges, the missing ‘authenticity’ in its evidence, and lack of ethics as displayed through its bribing of officials to create sensationalism.
Use of prostitutes by Tehelka during Operation West End
As per reports, Tehelka journalists extended their sting operation, much beyond exposing corruption. Aniruddha Bahal and Mathew Samuel arranged for call girls and even filmed explicit encounters involving three defence officials.
The revelation has caused uproar and had also turned public sentiment against Tehelka, as it raised ethical questions and challenged the moral high ground that the news portal once took. Tehelka was criticised by politicians such as Madhavrao Scindia and Chandra Shekhar.
BJP’s George Fernandes had infamously said, “There cannot be any doubt that a crime against the country has been committed.” Another BJP MP Raghunath Jha emphasised, “If prostitutes were hawked, then certainly an offence is made out.”
Samata party demanded the arrest of the CEO of Tehelka. Party spokesperson Shambhu Shrivastava had said, “This is not journalism. We always maintained that they were pretenders playing into hands of anti-national forces.”
“The use of prostitutes have raised grave issues and we want stringent action to be taken against these blackmailers who were masquerading as journalists,” he pointed out.
Tehelka framed an Indian Army officer
On Friday (July 21) this year, the Delhi High Court directed ‘Tehelka’ magazine, its founder Tarun Tejpal and two other ‘jounalists’ to pay ₹2 crores to a retired Indian Army office for defaming him during their infamous sting, dubbed the ‘Operation West End.’
The officer, identified as Major General MS Ahluwalia, had filed the defamation case in 2002 after the magazine accused him of taking bribes in defence deals.
He had named Tehelka and its journalists Tarun Tejpal, Aniruddha Bahal and Mathew Samuel, saying they published false allegations against him. Zee TV, its chairman Subhash Chandra and CEO Sandeep Goyal were also named in the defamation case, as the sting operation was broadcast on Zee TV.
As a result of the false allegations against him, Major General MS Ahluwalia was court-martialled by the Indian Army with the recommendation to dismiss him from the service. Later, the punishment was downgraded and he was awarded Severe Displeasure (Recordable)’ by the army chief.
#Breaking Delhi HC orders journalist Tarun Tejpal, news platform Tehelka and two reporters to pay ₹2 crore in damages to Maj Gen MS Ahluwalia for defamation.
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) July 21, 2023
Order comes 22 years after Tehelka carried a sting operation saying that Ahluwalia was involved in corruption in the… pic.twitter.com/6LRYFF1Xqs
A case was also lodged against him under Sections 9 and 10 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) by the Central Bureau of Investigation. At that time, he was the Director-General, Ordnance, in the Indian Army and oversaw the functioning of the central depot for ammunition and technical stores.
In the sting, Ahluwalia was seen offering a bribe of ₹50,000, but he refused to accept it. However, it was alleged that he had said he would need money to introduce West End officials with top army brass.
Tehelka had also claimed that the army officer had demanded a bottle of Blue Label. MS Ahluwalia had denied the allegations made by Tehelka and said that when Tehelka did the sting, he was not involved in any post related to the selection or purchase of imported weapons.
“I am not involved in process of cases of import of equipment which is handled by Additional Director General, Weapons and Equipment (ADGWE) and has never held any post which is involved in selection and import of new equipment,” he had said.
It is notable that initially, Tehelka had claimed he had demanded ₹1 lakh, but later changed it to ₹50,000. In the army’s court of inquiry, Tehelka journalist Mathew Samuel admitted that Ahluwalia never demanded any money or expensive whiskey
Conclusion
In the late 1990s, the Indian defence sector was mired in controversy over the procurement of defence equipment and arms deals. After sensing an opportunity, Tehelka decided to embark on its ambitious mission of investigative journalism.
For Tarun Tejpal’s close-knit ‘ecosystem’ of journalists and activists, the ‘Operation West End’ of Tehelka is perhaps a watershed moment in Indian investigative journalism. However, it failed to capture the imagination of the Indian public for a long time.
“The alleged use of women, liquor, and money by the reporters to lure the unsuspecting in this whole episode have worked against Tehelka in the long term,” wrote Media Ethics Magazine in its case study.
While Tehelka set out to expose the dark realities of corruption within the Indian defence establishment, it uncovered its own lack of journalistic ethics and integrity in framing Major General MS Ahluwalia.
