New Tehelka probe Judge

JUSTICE S.N. PHUKAN, retired Judge of the Supreme Court, will now head the commission of inquiry into the March 13, 2001 expose by the web portal tehelka.com regarding corruption in defence purchases and matters relating to it. The appointment of Justice Phukan has ended the almost two-month-old search by the government to fill the vacancy. Justice Phukan, who will take charge of the Commission this month, currently heads the Assam State Human Rights Commission.

Emphasising that he would be impartial in his work, Justice Phukan said: "It does not matter if anybody is holding a high-profile post in the country. If I find, during my investigations, that top political and powerful people are involved, then I will recommend necessary action." Work at the Commission came to a halt on November 25, 2002 when Justice K. Venkataswami resigned from the post following allegations levelled against him in Parliament (Frontline December 7, 2002). Submitting his resignation, Justice Venkataswami said that he was ready with a draft report based on the Commission's hearings. In the two years of its functioning, the Commission had completed its inquiry into 15 defence transactions. It had gone into the question of the veracity of the Tehelka tapes, the authenticity of the transcripts, and the portal's motives.

The future of the probe remains uncertain with Tehelka terming the appointment as "another round of charade and a wild goose chase." Tehelka managing director Tarun Tejpal said that his news portal would boycott further proceedings of the Commission. Tehelka, which suffered major financial losses leading to the closure of its website, has been consistently complaining of being harassed by government agencies. Said Tejpal: "We have fully cooperated with the Commission headed by Justice K. Venkataswami. Our lives are now consumed by the proceedings. We have neither the resources nor the desire to continue with the charade."

He said that Tehelka had furnished all the details, including the tapes, to the Commission and there was nothing more to provide in connection with the "fraudulent" defence details.

Naunidhi Kaur