Security for scribes stressed

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, MAY 8. Expressing concern over the increasingly security threats to scribes, particularly in the wake of the Tehelka episode, the Press Council of India chairman, Mr.Justice P. B. Sawant, said today that society should ensure their safety if investigative journalism was to survive in this country.

Speaking at a book release function at the Indian Law Institute here today, Mr.Justice Sawant said to cleanse public life and end corruption in society, it was imperative that investigative journalism should thrive. ``Tehelka.Com, A Tip Of An Iceberg'', by an advocate Dr. Janak Raj Jai, was the book released.

Expressing the hope that the book would help people know more about the Tehelka episode, Mr. Justice Sawant said it was not at all proper to debate ethicality of the means used in exposing corrupt deals. ``Here, the ethicality of means was totally justified. Let our discussions not be guided by political arguments because then principles get lost.''

The issue of corruption was nothing new, he said. As far as political corruption was concerned, it had reached alarming proportions because the money involved in politics was huge and it was all covered under a veil of secrecy.

Stating that no one's right to privacy had been breached in the ``sting operation'', which was in the public interest, Mr.Justice Sawant said electoral reforms alone would not pave the way for a cleaner society. ``What is required is a change in the entire system.''

The newly-elected president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Mr. Kapil Sibal, said the judicial commission set up to inquire into the matter was a farce as it was without any powers.

Stating that corruption was synonymous with power, Mr. Sibal said what worried him was how the common man would deal with the situation when the entire system had turned corrupt. He wanted the people to unite and fight the system to end corruption in public life.

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