The Supreme Court has issued notices to Zee News and its reporter Vijay Shekhar for carrying out a sting operation purportedly to expose corruption in lower judiciary, news agencies have reported. Zee News and Shekhar were issued notices Tuesday for carrying out sting operation in 2004 showing how non-bailable warrants can be procured against any person by paying a hefty amount in a court.
A three-bench judge bench comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, and justices D K Jain and V S Sirpurkarthesaid, "We are strongly of the view that you should be prosecuted. We issue notice to you to explain why you should not be prosecuted."
The bench, according to the Hindu, did not accept the petitioners' submission that the operation was conducted to expose `cash-for-warrant scams' in the lower judiciary. It said, "Invariably warrants are prepared by the court staff and magistrates in their heavy workload cannot be expected to go through every name mentioned in the warrant."
In the sting operation, the channel while seeking to "expose" corruption in the lower judiciary in Gujarat obtained warrants against President APJ Abdul Kalam and the then Chief Justice of India VN Khare, Justice BP Singh and supreme court lawyer RK Jain from a lower court in Ahmedabad after paying bribe.
