Accused Army officers can cross-examine Tehelka scribes
MANOJ MITTA

NEW DELHI, MARCH 14: The senior Army officers named in the Tehelka sting operation can now cross-examine the journalists involved. This follows the Army's decision today to order a Court of Inquiry (CoI) into the entire defence scandal raised by Tehelka.

In fact, if the CoI is followed by a general court-martial, the Army officers will get a second opportunity to cross-examine Tehelka's `investigation team'.

Not surprisingly, since the probe has been prompted by the tapes, Tehelka will soon be required to submit them to the CoI, that too unedited. This is because the edited tapes being shown on TV are liable to be dismissed as doctored evidence.

The officers are entitled to grill the journalists on not just the tapes but also the inferences they drew from them.

Under the Army Act, there are three possible stages of the action initiated against the officers named in the Tehelka tapes.

* The CoI, due to be headed by a Lt Gen, has the limited objective of collecting material and recording evidence. Hence the need for taking the tapes into custody and asking the Tehelka journalists to testify their authenticity. In the process, the officers implicated will also be given an opportunity to cross-examine Tehelka's journalists. Neither the journalists nor the officers will be allowed at this stage to take the help of lawyers during the proceedings.

* If the findings of the CoI corroborate Tehelka's allegations, the Army brass has two options: they may straightaway take the administrative action of discharging the officers from the Army. But if they want to take punitive action, the brass will have to make a summary of evidence and frame charges against them, as a prelude to the general court-martial.

* The proceedings before the general court-martial are as elaborate as a trial before any criminal court. Like any accused, the officers will be given the opportunity to cross-examine the journalists, who will be summoned as prosecution witnesses. All the parties concerned, including the officers and the journalists, will be allowed to attend the court-martial accompanied by their lawyers. If the court-martial concludes that the officers are guilty, it can dismiss them and impose punishment, which can go up to death sentence.

Given the high public interest in the matter, it remains to be seen whether the Army will allow the proceedings of the CoI and the general court-martial to be held in public. The Army usually conducts these proceedings in camera.