New Delhi: The Editors Guild of India on Thursday condemned the Attorney General’s comments before the Supreme Court pertaining to “stolen” documents on the Rafale deal, and said the media would not be intimidated.
“Any attempt to use the Official Secrets Act against the media is as reprehensible as asking the journalists to disclose their sources,” the guild said in a statement after the government threatened action.
The Hindu had last month published several articles on the Rafale deal, including a report that PMO-led parallel negotiations had undermined the Indian Negotiating Team and defence ministry’s talks with the French government.
N. Ram, the publication group’s chairman, said they did not steal any documents and reiterated their commitment to protecting their sources.
“We did not steal the documents from the Ministry of Defence, we got them from confidential sources and no force on earth can make me or us reveal the source of the documents, because we have given our word,” he said in a statement in The Hindu.
Attorney General K.K. Venugopal on Wednesday sought dismissal of a petition for a review of the apex court’s earlier judgment, giving the government a clean chit, on the grounds that the fresh petition had relied on documents that were “stolen” from the defence ministry. The government also said investigations were ongoing to ascertain if it was a crime and violative of the Official Secrets Act.
Venugopal later clarified that the no action would not be taken against journalists or lawyers who used these documents.
The Editors Guild said such threats will “intimidate the media in general and curb its freedom” to report and comment on the Rafale deal, and called on the government to not undermine the media’s freedom and independence.
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