NEWSLINKS US EDITION COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
Justice Vijender Jain of the Delhi High Court issued notices against the Union of India, the cabinet secretary and the home secretary after hearing a petition filed by the owner of Jain TV network, Dr J K Jain.
The court passed the order after hearing arguments of Jain's counsel P N Lekhi.
Notices were also issued to Brajesh Mishra, the prime minister's principal secretary and Union Sports Minister Uma Bharti.
The Research and Analysis Wing, which works under the Prime Minister's Office, had alleged in a report that Jain was an Inter-Service Intelligence agent and that his Jain TV was its instrument, said Lekhi.
He further told the court that his client came to know about it when he went to meet the information and broadcasting minister for clearing a project. He was told that it could not be done as a report from RAW had described him as an ISI agent.
Lekhi told the court that his client was condemned because of it and suffered a loss of reputation. He said that he met Union Home Minister L K Advani, who asked the home secretary to ask the Intelligence Bureau. The IB had said it was not behind any such report.
Then Jain wrote to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee about it and told him that his principal secretary was behind it.
Jain said in his petition that a Jain TV team had gone to probe an advertisement contract Mishra's niece Vibha Mishra got from the Power Grid Corporation of India.
On August 17, 1998, the corporation had issued notices asking for empanneling advertisement agencies for offering them contracts.
Vibha Mishra's New Delhi-based agency Garuda and its partner MCS Communications were not empanelled as they could not fulfil the criteria. But that panel was scrapped and the rules were relaxed for empanellment. Finally the contract worth several crores was given to Garuda and MCS Communications.
Lekhi told the court that the proximity of the dates in the investigation launched by Jain TV and the RAW report shows it has been done at the behest of Brajesh Mishra.
On the allegation that Jain TV used information from the Pakistani paper Jung, which is allegedly an ISI conduit, Lekhi said the daily Pioneer also uses information from Jung.
Government counsel Additional Solicitor General K K Sood, accepted the notices against the Union of India, the cabinet secretary and the home secretary, but refused to recieve the notice against other respondents. The court will on its own send the notices to Mishra, Bharti and others.
The court had asked Jain's counsel last week to delete the name of the prime minister from the list of respondents before the petition could be heard saying that the allegations against the prime minister were not correctly made. The PM's name was then deleted.
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
