New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has ruled in favour of retired Indian Army Officer, Major General MS Ahluwalia, in a defamation case against Tehelka.com and journalists Tarun Tejpal, Anirudh Behl, and Mathew Samual. The court has ordered them to pay Rs 2 crore as compensation for the damages caused to Major General Ahluwalia’s reputation.
The case dates back to 2001, when Tehelka conducted a sting operation alleging that Major General Ahluwalia was involved in corruption related to defence deals. The court, presided over by Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, noted that the false allegations not only resulted in a negative public perception of the plaintiff but also caused severe harm to his character, which cannot be easily rectified or healed.
In its ruling, the court emphasised that the plaintiff has endured a tarnished reputation for over 23 years and that an apology at this stage would be inadequate and meaningless, given the gravity of the defamation.
According to the suit, Tehelka published a story on March 13, 2001, which claimed that Major General Ahluwalia had demanded a bribe of Rs 10 lakh and a bottle of Blue Label whisky in connection with defence equipment deals. The article also alleged that the officer had accepted a token bribe of Rs 50,000. However, the court found that these allegations were false and had been intentionally made without verifying the facts.
Moreover, the court discovered that the alleged tape containing the conversation between the reporter and the plaintiff had been tampered with and doctored to manipulate the recording. Selective portions were deleted, and editorial comments were added without any factual substantiation.
The Indian Army took the matter seriously and initiated a Court of Inquiry into the issue, which further damaged the military reputation of Major General Ahluwalia and cast a cloud of suspicion over him.
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