NEW DELHI: Curious why the messenger was being probed and harassed while the message seemed to have been lost, the Delhi HC has barred the Delhi Police from arresting two journalists who secretly filmed 11 members of parliament allegedly receiving cash to raise questions on the floor of the house.
Seeking to know what action has been taken against the errant MPs, Justice S N Dhingra on Wednesday demanded a status report from the city's police which has registered an FIR against the scribes who then rushed to HC fearing arrest. The investigating officer in the case has been asked to be present on September 13, the next date of hearing, with a status report detailing the action that has been taken against the MPs.
HC also found it strange that while the journalists were named in the FIR, no action had been taken against the MPs. In their writ petition filed through senior advocate Siddharth Luthra and advocate Pramod Dubey, the scribes pointed out that the PC Act provided protection for bribe givers and claimed that the sting had been aired in public interest.
The FIR was registered in Parliament Street police station on June 9, two years after the sting operation and accuses the two of abetting corruption under Section 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The sting, aired in 2005, showed 11 MPs allegedly accepting money for putting up questions in Parliament. Interestingly, while the Parliament expelled the 11 MPs as a consequence, even the Supreme Court upheld their expulsion which indicated that the sting operation had been taken to be credibile.
