TV channel reports about Gavit to be probed

New Delhi, Aug 14: Even as Minister of State for Home Manik Rao Gavit today challenged the authenticity of a television channel programme showing him in conversation with a jailed mafia don about deals and money, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Priyaranjan Dasmunsi announced that the matter will be probed and the inquiry report tabled in the current session of Parliament.

Mr Dasmunsi said since the member belonged to the Lok Sabha, it was the Speaker who would decide how the probe would be set up.

Earlier, Mr Gavit said he would not take part in any government and Parliamentary work unless the inquiry was complete. He offered to quit politics and accept punishment if the allegations were found to be correct.

Making a statement in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha after Question Hour, Mr Gavit said a perusal of the speeches he had made in the House during his long stint of eight terms as an MP would show that he had never used the kind of language that was shown on the channel, which had claimed to be a conversation between him and jailed criminal Sundar Singh Bhati.

Leader of the Opposition L K Advani, several other members in the Lok Sabha and members cutting across party lines in the Rajya Sabha, including Ms Brinda Karat of the CPI-M, Ms Sushma Swaraj of the BJP, Mr Sharad Yadav of the JD-U and Mr Amar Singh of the Samajwadi Party suggested that Parliament consider the issue of ''sting operations'' being conducted by the electronic media frequently and enact a suitable law to ensure that honest politicians were not subjected to humiliation on the basis of incorrect information.

Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said he would call a meeting of the floor leaders of various parties in the House to discuss the issue.

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Priyaranjan Dasmunsi responding to the issue raised by Mr Uday Pratap Singh in the Rajya Sabha said the government will take strict action against those found guilty, but if the accusations were found false, strict action will follow against the Channel.

He said the Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill that was going to brought in the next session of Parliament will take care of the issues raised by sting operations by TV channels.

Mr Dasmunsi said the government was already very serious about the issues raised by sting operations of TV channels. However, he said it is the Opposition which makes a lot of hue of cry whenever the government makes any move to put reasonable checks on the media. Earlier, Ms Swaraj, Mr Sharad Yadav, Mr Amar Singh, Ms Karat and other Members in the Rajya Sabha expressed their strong support to Mr Gavit and expressed their firm belief in his honesty.

Mr Gavit, a Congress MP from Maharashtra, said he came to know about the alleged conversation, which reportedly took place some days ago, through a television channel last evening. The alleged conversation related to the Minister's son-in-law purchasing land and getting a jail official transferred.

''The words that were used (in the conversation shown on the channel) were not polite'' and were at variance with the kind of language he was known for in the House, he said.

He said the telephone call should be investigated. ''In my entire life I have never been involved in any illegal activity,'' he said and added that he was not at all acquainted with the topography of Bulandshahar (Uttar Pradesh), where Bhati was presently in jail, but the conversation shown on the channel made it clear that the persons involved in the telephone talk had thorough knowledge of various locations of that place.

Asserting that he had never met Bhati, he said the television channel should have talked to him to cross check with him the authenticity of the conversation before going public with it. At least it could have talked to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.

''If I am found guilty I should be punished. I am ready for any sort of inquiry and punishment if proved guilty...Without any concrete evidence, nobody should be humiliated like this...No one's image should be marred like this.'' Demanding the constitution of a Parliamentary inquiry immediately, he said he would not participate in any ''government activities'' till he was cleared in the case.

Earlier, during Question Hour, the Opposition BJP had demanded a discussion on the issue.

The issue was raised by BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra as soon as the Lower House assembled this morning.

''This is a very serious issue, a Union Minister of State for Home talking to a mafia don who is in a jail in Uttar Pradesh,'' said Mr Malhotra.

''I have been informed of the issue. I have also seen the television report,'' Mr Chatterjee said and announced that the Minister would make a statement.

UNI