Panel clears AK Saseendran; channel lands in soup

Thiruvananthapuram: Former transport minister A.K. Saseendran  can now relax  as the  P.S. Antony judicial commission, which probed the Mangalam TV honey-trap case, has  reportedly  exonerated him. The commission submitted its report to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan in his chamber in the secretariat on Tuesday and it is likely to be placed before  the cabinet for approval on Wednesday.

Sources said the 405-page, two-volume report has recommended prosecution of the CEO of the channel which had aired the audio clip. It also called for scrapping the  channel's licence.

The alleged victim had failed to depose before the commission. Mr Saseendran had appeared twice before it. 

The NCP leader had resigned on March 27 after an audio clip of a sexually explicit conversation, allegedly between him and a woman,  was aired by the  TV channel. The commission has directed that the channel  should be made to pay compensation. 

The commission recommended a regulatory mechanism for the electronic media and a law to check the intrusion into the  privacy of a citizen.  It has to be examined whether honey- trap incident could be seen as violation of the private space of an individual, it said.

Earlier,  Justice Antony told reporters that the media should represent  society’s interest rather than commercial interests. 

He pointed out that the print media had a quasi-judicial body like the Press Council  to regulate their functioning. However, there was no such mechanism for regulating the electronic media.

He said he was not advocating curbs on the freedom of press but a mechanism of self- regulation. The commission had examined the circumstances leading to the controversial phone call and the authenticity of the voice recording. It is learnt that the channel had  produced only the edited version of the conversation and that the unedited recorded version could not be examined.

The commission  has recommended steps for the  modernisation of media and discussed  many issues of political and public importance.

The cabinet had appointed  the Antony commission on March 30 to look into the circumstances leading to the resignation of Mr Saseendran from the ministry.  The commission was initially asked to submit its report within three months.

TERMS OF REFERENCE: The terms of reference of the probe included  examination of the conversation,  the circumstances under which it took place, whether the conversation that was recorded earlier had been edited with ulterior motive, did anyone tamper with the recording and who all were behind the entire episode.  

The other questions were  was there any illegality in airing the conversation  and whether there   was any conspiracy behind the decision to telecast the said conversation,  besides all other issues connected with the incident.