Shooting the messenger, literally?

The last few weeks have been intensely gratifying for conspiracy theory geeks addicted to corporate espionage, political shenanigans, spy cams and thrilling televised and off-camera wars between a belligerent media, powerful industrialists and wily politicians. But wars are often accompanied by diversionary tactics and what has happened between industrialist-turned-MP Naveen Jindal owned Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and the Zee News Ltd is a classic example of just that.

For the uninitiated, JSPL has filed an FIR against two top journalists of ZEE News for demanding Rs 100 crores in return for not airing news about the firm’s involvement on coal block allocations. Jindal has been in the eye of the storm for being one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Rs 1,85,591 crore Coalgate scam. His company has been accused of getting a coal field allocated in February 2009 with reserves of 1500 million metric tonnes in contravention of rules and regulations. It is alleged that JSPL was awarded the coal block without so much as even appearing before the screening committee.

The constant media hammering on these CAG revelations was obviously not doing JSPL any good. That Naveen Jindal was really perturbed with the going-ons – and specifically with ZEE’s coverage of his firm’s involvement in Coalgate – was obvious from the manner in which he manhandled a ZEE News reporter on September 11 when the latter asked him some uncomfortable questions at a public event. So, in a reverse sting on ZEE News Editor Sudhir Chaudhary and Editor of Zee Business Samir Ahluwalia, JSPL submitted call record details and covert video recording at a hotel showcasing a meeting with the editors in question demanding money in exchange for the favour of not airing news on JSPL’s Coalgate involvement.

Given that none of these tapes and call records is in public domain, it is difficult to ascertain the truth of the matter at hand. What is interesting however is how the counter sting has been successful in replacing news stories about Jindal’s involvement in Coalgate with stories of alleged blackmailing by media outlets of companies. A diversionary coup by JSPL no doubt – one that cast aspersions on the integrity of the very media reporting on its alleged transgressions. “JSPL has achieved its purpose by this counter sting. Nobody is talking about the Coalgate scam worth thousands of crores now and all attention is on the Rs 50 crore allegedly demanded by a TV news outfit,” says the editor of a news channel who does not wish to be named. 

Even as Naveen Jindal continues to deny any involvement in Coalgate, another coal mine block allotted to his company came under the scanner in September this year. The case involves a consortium formed by JSW Steel, Jindal Thermal Power and Jindal Stainless Steel with government-owned Mahanadi Coalfields Limited in 2005 for a coal block in the Talcher coalfields in Odisha. In 2010, the Jindal companies were issued show cause notices for not carrying out any mining activity in the awarded coal block.

Moreover, Jindal’s coal-fired power project in Chhattisharh’s Raigarh district is the first ever power project in India to sell electricity on a ‘merchant power’ basis. This allows Jindal Power Limited (JPL) to sell electricity at a rate higher than the rate at which power regulators fix tariffs. The 1000 MW JPL plant became operational in 2008 and within two years reportedly recovered its costs and even became debt free. Normally it takes anywhere between five to seven years to repay debt incurred on capital investment in power projects.

While Jindal has publicly clarified that the success of JPL is “not because of so called cheap coal” but due to efficient planning and operations, many in Chhattisgarh are unconvinced. Raigarh-based RTI activist Ramesh Agarwal, 56, who has been leading a long crusade against JSPL’s ambitious plans in the town, goes so far as to claim that Jindal hired contract killers to get rid of him. Agarwal was shot at in his office in July this year. “The recent arrest of two kingpins KK Chopra and SN Panigrahi in the shooting case has exposed the Jindals. Both accused handle security at JSPL,” Agarwal told TSI, making it sound like a case of literally 'shooting' the messenger.

On being asked to comment on the FIR lodged by JSPL against ZEE News, Agarwal contends that such diversionary tactics to stop critics is nothing new for the group. “They had slapped a Rs 5 crore extortion case against me also after the clearance of their Tamnar Power Plant was cancelled by the Environment Ministry on my complaint. But when the police investigated, they found nothing,” contends Agarwal.

The ZEE management is standing behind its editors. In an interaction with TSI, Sudhir Chaudhary, Editor and Business Head of ZEE News explained that they were stringing along JSPL to get a meaty story about how the power company was trying to pay off media houses to stop negative publicity on Coalgate (see the full interview on page 40), something that journalists often need to do.

A hurried decision by the Broadcast Editors' Association (BEA) to sack Chaudhary from the post of treasurer and primary membership of the body has added more fuel to the raging fire. Chaudhary acted in a manner that is "unbecoming of an editor and in a fashion that is prejudicial to the interest and objects of the BEA,” said a BEA statement. The TV body arrived at its verdict after a quickly conducted inquiry by a three-man fact finding team which met representatives of JSPL chairman Navin Jindal and reviewed evidence presented to the police.

In a country where even a known terrorist like Ajmal Kasab has a right to a fair hearing before a judgment is passed, Chaudhary claims that the BEA did not even bother to hear his submissions before pronouncing him guilty. “The committee had the time frame of two weeks to come out with that report but they rushed towards it and took action immediately. This defies logic,” Chaudhary told TSI, adding that he was not given the opportunity for a fair representation by the BEA.

The BEA’s action against Chaudhary does seem quite hasty given that the final verdict on the tapes is yet to be established by the police. If the incident was really worrying them, perhaps they could have ‘suspended’ the ZEE News editor instead of sacking him, at least until the police investigation was completed. BEA President Shazi Zaman declined to comment on the issue when approached.

“Without going into the merits of the allegations against ZEE, I would like to say that such questions are being raised today because the credibility of media as well as MPs with business interests is at an all time low,” points out veteran journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.

 JSPL’s counter sting against ZEE has ensured that apart from attention being deflected away from his company’s involvement in the Coalgate scam, lines have clearly been drawn within the media community. As new media wars flare out over what is ethical and what is not, what boundaries media should adhere to when investigating stories and how much is too much, the master protagonist Naveen Jindal seems to be laughing all the way to America. Last heard, the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) had renamed its School of Management as the Naveen Jindal School of Management in honour of its former student. Jindal – who openly backs the controversial Khap or caste panchayats despite their regressive extra-constitutional role in officiating against marriages within a clan – who had earned his MBA from UTD in 1992, forcing many to question if this is what UTD endorses.

The bigger question however remains: can scam money really buy you true legitimacy?

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