Jaipur: Just a day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi spoke out against the curtailment of press freedom by the Modi government, the Ashok Gehlot-led government in Rajasthan filed a first information report against Aaj Tak journalist Sharat Kumar and former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot’s media advisor Lokendra Singh, accusing them of spreading “fake news” about the alleged phone tapping of MLAs, during the political crisis in the state.
The FIR, lodged at the Jaipur’s Vidhayak Puri police station on October 1, mentions that on August 7, a constable had shared the “fake news” of phone tapping of the MLAs – who were sealed in a hotel in Jaisalmer by the chief minister – doing the rounds on the social media.
This was later investigated by the station house officer (SHO) of the special offences and cyber crime police station, Surendra Pancholi. Sources said that Pancholi had even reached out to Pilot’s residence to record the statement of his media advisor on August 20, just a few days after the Gehlot government had won the confidence motion in the assembly.
Singh has been summoned for interrogation, along with his mobile phone and computer. After being named in the FIR, Aaj Tak’s Kumar told Indian Express, “All news channels ran the news story from morning till evening. Why is one channel being singled out?”
The FIR has been filed under sections 505 (1) and (2) (statement conducing to public mischief), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 76 of the Information Technology Act.
This development has raised a crucial question in the Rajasthan politics: whether the truce between Gehlot and Pilot that was achieved after the intervention the Gandhis has been called off?
Left to Right: Ashok Gehlot, Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot. Photo: PTI
Sources within the Congress party said that filing of an FIR against the media advisor of a senior leader of the ruling party cannot be a handiwork of an SHO-level officer, “someone has definitely ordered it to be done”.
Two months ago, a list of phone calls made by the MLAs and ministers of the Gehlot camp, who were sealed in a hotel in Jaisalmer, was leaked on social media by the Pilot camp, alleging that Gehlot was “unconstitutionally” recording the phone calls of his own MLAs.
It was further alleged that those MLAs who in the past had good relations with Pilot were put on “red alert” and their movements were being monitored, including who they were talking to over the phone and meeting in the hotel.
Along with the list, a document was also released revealing that four jammers were installed in the Jaisalmer hotel by a company named as Ajaib Electronics, to make sure that the MLAs were not able to use their mobile phones.
Pilot’s side had also alleged that the state police was involved in tapping phones along with two private agencies. However, the Rajasthan Police had denied the allegations, calling it “imaginary” and “false”. “No unit of the Rajasthan Police did phone tapping of any MLA or MP, neither in the past nor in present,” the state police had said in a statement that time.
Also read: 55 Indian Journalists Arrested, Booked, Threatened for Reporting on COVID-19: Report
Rajasthan political crisis
The showdown between Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot began after Gehlot said that attempts were being made to topple his government, and subsequently, the state police registered an FIR, against two men, which also highlighted that Pilot was aiming to be the chief minister.
Following this, the special operations group (SOG) of the Rajasthan police sent a notice to Pilot asking for a time to record his statements in the matter. The notice seemed to have triggered Pilot and, next day, he claimed that he had a support of 30 MLAs. About 19 of these MLAs skipped two Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meetings that were urgently called to assess the support to the ruling Gehlot government.
Subsequently, the Gehlot government – through its chief whip Mahesh Joshi – submitted a petition to speaker C.P. Joshi that listed reasons, such as, missing out the CLP meetings, conspiring to topple the elected government in Rajasthan, hostile conduct and remaining inaccessible, to be considered as grounds for disqualification of the rebel MLAs.
The state assembly secretariat issued notices to all of these MLAs asking to send their written submissions within three days (by July 17), failing which an ex-parte action would be sought against them.
The rebel MLAs who were served this notice moved to the high court, primarily stating that failure to attend meetings of the CLP, which was listed as a reason in the disqualification petition moved by the Gehlot government, is not a ground of disqualification.
The high court barred the speaker from conducting the disqualification proceedings against the rebel Congress MLAs. Following this, Joshi moved the Supreme Court, but the apex court refused to stay the high court proceedings.
With the intervention of the Gandhi family, it was decided that the All India Congress Committee (AICC) will constitute a three-member committee to address the issues raised by Pilot and the rebel MLAs, and arrive at an appropriate resolution.
Following this, the Congress party even removed Avinash Pande as the AICC in-charge of the state, which was assumed to be a compliance of one of the demands of Pilot kept before the Gandhi family, after which he had put his revolt against Gehlot to rest.
Meanwhile, Gehlot was trying to convene an assembly session, but governor Kalraj Mishra had returned three cabinet proposals asking him to give a 21-day prior notice or cite an ‘urgent reason’ to hold the session amid the pandemic.
Gehlot and his supporting MLAs staged a protest outside the Raj Bhavan.
Congress MLAs supporting Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot stage a sit-in protest at the Raj Bhawan demanding Governor Kalraj Mishra convene an urgent assembly session, in Jaipur, Friday, July 24, 2020. Photo: PTI
Mishra, then agreed to the fourth cabinet proposal that had complied with his demand for 21-days prior notice. The assembly session was scheduled for August 14. The Gehlot government won the confidence motion on the floor of the state assembly.
Also read: Pilot vs Gehlot: Law Allows Speaker to Decide Where Free Speech Ends and Defection Begins
Opposition’s reaction to the FIR filed against journalist
Countering the filing of FIR against journalist, Bhartiya Janata Party’s Rajasthan president Satish Poonia said that the Gehlot government is trying to suppress media’s coverage of crime against women happening in the state. “Ashok Gehlot talks about threat to the democracy, but is himself suppressing the fourth pillar of democracy. The reason is that the journalists are raising their voice to protect the underprivileged and women,” Poonia tweeted.
लोकतंत्र पर खतरे की बड़ी बड़ी बातें करने वाले @ashokgehlot51 जी लोकतंत्र के चौथे स्तंभ के दमन पर उतर आए हैं,कारण है विगत दिनों पत्रकारों ने वंचितों और अबलाओं की रक्षा के लिए आवाज बुलंद की है।सरकार का यह कृत्य तो विनाशकाले विपरीत बुद्धि जैसा ही होगा।@BJP4India @BJP4Rajasthan
— Satish Poonia (@DrSatishPoonia) October 7, 2020
People’s Union for Civil Liberties, a human rights body, has also termed the state government’s action against the media as “vindictive.”
