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Sting Operations — to be or not to Be?

Sting Operation –To be or not to be?

A Sting Operation is an operation designed to catch a person committing a crime by means of deception. A complicated confidence game planned and executed with great care. The word “sting” derives its origin from American usage to mean a police undercover operation designed to ensnare criminals. The word “sting” is a synonym for the expression “set a trap to catch a crook” and this article uses the term in that sense. In more refined terms, it can be called Investigative Journalism or Undercover Journalism. Sting Operation is an information-gathering exercise; it looks for facts that are not easy to obtain by simple requests and searches, or those that are actively being concealed, suppressed or distorted.

An informed citizenry the bedrock of a democracy, holding the government accountable through voting and participation requires investigative journalism which cannot sustain itself on asymmetric dissemination of information. In many cases, the subjects of the reporting wish the matters under scrutiny to remain undisclosed. Among the most popular programmes in India, are those reporting on corruption and misdeeds of politicians and government officials. ‘Candid camera,’ reports many true stories of the day the bribe that the police inspector extracts from the victim of a crime before agreeing to investigate, the ‘fee’ that the government officer charges for his giving the order to make an electric connection, and the ‘contribution’ that a company pays a member of Parliament before bringing up a legislative concern in the Lok Sabha. Because of all these things do we really require Sting Operations? At the same time, where such investigative work involves the use of covert methods, it raises issues that tend to further blur the line between law and ethics. Is deception legitimate when the aim is to tell the truth? Is any method justifiable no matter the working conditions and the difficulties in getting information? Can television reporters use hidden cameras to get a story? Can journalists use false identities to gain access to information? The critical question that surfaces is “to what extent can the media go and to what extent should a person be informed?”

Sting Operations In India
Sting Operations are undertook with a view to look into the working of the govt. or to see whether the acts of any individual is against the public order. On the basis of the purpose Sting Operations can be classified as positive and negative. Positive Sting Operation is one which results in the interest of the society, which pierces the veils of the working of the government. It is carried out in the public interest. Due to positive sting operation society is benefited because it makes government responsible and accountable. It leads to the transparency in the government. On the other hand negative sting operations do not benefit the society, but they do harm the society and its individuals. It unnecessarily violates the privacy of the individual without any beneficial results to the society. These types of Sting operations if allowed then it will hamper the freedom of the individuals and restricts their rights. Here are some examples which we can distinguish as positive and negative sting operations.

1. Positive Sting Operations:
„« Sting operations on ultra-sound centers carried out by the Health officers in Karnataka for “serious enforcement’’ of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act which bans sex determination of foetuses and consequent abortion of female ones to stop female foeticide.

„« The Ministry (by the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act and Programme Code), has prohibited the transmission of Cineworld channel for 30 days for showing “objectionable content.” Because it “offended good taste and decency” and it “was obscene and likely to corrupt public morality and was not suited for unrestricted public exhibition”

„« An operation by an online news site called Tehelka to catch top politicians and army officers taking bribes from journalists posing as businessmen.

„« An operation in which a journalist posing as a struggling actress met actor Shakti Kapoor, who promised in the televised footage that his secretary would introduce her to movie producers and directors.

2. Negative Sting Operations:
Instances over the years have shown that though sting operations do expose corruption in some cases, sometimes they seriously violate the rules of journalism in the pursuit of profit and short-term sensationalism.

„« The Delhi High Court on Friday, 7th September, 2007, issued notices to the Delhi government and city police after taking suo motu cognisance of media reports alleging that a sting operation carried out by a TV channel, which claimed to have exposed a sex racket run by a government school teacher Uma Khurana, for allegedly luring her pupils into prostitution has now been revealed to be completely fabricated and was fake and distorted.

„« The Supreme Court on Wednesday, 7th February, 2007, issued notices to a private news channel and its reporter for carrying out a sting operation carried out in the year 2004, which allegedly showed a non-bailable warrant could be procured against any person by paying a hefty amount in the court.

These incidents are an example of how a sting operation can go wrong and become an exercise in trapping an innocent person. India TV’s chief editor, Rajat Sharma, said that there was no violation of privacy in exposing such matters as political corruption or the trading of jobs for sex in Bollywood, a practice known in movie and theatrical business lore as the casting couch. “If you are serious about exposing certain social evils, there is no other option but to use sting operations.”

Do We Really Need Sting Operations?
The media plays an important role in a democratic society. It acts as the fourth institute outside the Government . Sting operations are methods of uncovering information. Although, the Indian Constitution does not expressly mention the liberty of the press, it is evident that the liberty of the press is included in the freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1) (a). Various Constitutions have guaranteed free press or media as a fundamental right . Freedom of press is a special right under art. 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India, 1950 but it has certain restrictions. The democratic credentials are judged by the extent of freedom the media enjoys in a particular state . Further the media has a right to impart the information to the public. Freedom of speech includes freedom to communicate, advertise, publish or propagate ideas and the dissemination of information . Furthermore Art. 19(1) also incorporates within itself right to receive information about any event, happening or incident etc. “The heart of journalism has to be public interest” and Sting operations, serve public interest.

In Romesh Thappar v. State of Madras Court said, “…. The public interest of freedom of discussion (of which the freedom of press is one aspect) stems from the requirement that members of a democratic society should be sufficiently informed so that they may influence intelligently the decisions which may affect themselves. ….In some the fundamental principle involved here is the peoples’ right to know.”

This concept of peoples’ right to know, which was found to be so essential for democracy, was located by the Court in Article 19(1)(a) in Bennett Coleman and Co. v. Union of India observing thus:

“Although Article 19(1)(a) does not mention the freedom of the press, it is settled view of the Court that freedom of speech and expression includes freedom of the press and circulation.”

The Court held:
“Press has a fundamental right to express itself; the community has a right to be supplied with information; and the Government has a duty to educate the people within the limits of its resources.”

Justice Mathews ruled in the case of State of UP v. Raj Narain , “The people of this country have a right to know every public act, everything that is done in a public way by their public functionaries. Their right to know is derived from the concept of freedom of speech”.

In S.P. Gupta v. Union of India , “No democratic Government can survive without accountability and the basic postulate of accountability is that people should have the information about the working of the Government.”

In Prabha Dutt v. Union of India the Supreme Court upheld the right claimed by the press to interview prisoners that the right claimed by the Press was not the right to express any particular view or opinion but right to means of information through the medium of interview of the prisoners.

In Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Private Ltd. and Ors v. Union of India and Ors. , the Court emphasized that the freedom of press and information were “vital for the realization of human rights”. The court relied upon the Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948

Why No To Sting Operations?
With great power comes great responsibility, therefore the freedom under Article 19(1)(a) is correlative with the duty not to violate any law. Every institution is liable to be abused, and every liberty, if left unbridled, may lead to disorder and anarchy. Television channels in a bid to increase their Trade Related Practices (TRP’s) ratings are resorting to sensationalized journalism. Sting operations have now become the