Opinion - News Analysis   

Some uncomfortable questions

Kalpana Sharma

ON JULY 14 and 15, Hindustan Times launched its Mumbai edition by publishing the transcripts of an alleged conversation that took place between the two famous Bollywood stars, Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai, on its front page. On July 14, the transcripts, which the reporter claimed were from tapes in the possession of the Mumbai police, consisted mostly of Khan boasting to Rai about his links with the underworld, demanding that she perform in a show organised by one of these underworld dons. He also allegedly claimed he had prior knowledge of the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai. The alleged exchange between the two actors, which was entirely one-sided, was generously sprinkled with expletives that were deleted. The next day's transcripts were of a more personal nature and featured Khan allegedly speaking to a former girl friend as well as to Rai. The tapes were supposed to be based on conversations recorded during August 28-30, 2001.

Predictably, the transcripts became the subject of considerable controversy. Aside from the newspaper, television channels continuously played portions of the tape. In the Maharashtra Assembly a few days later, the Opposition took up the issue. Gopinath Munde of the Bharatiya Janata Party waved a CD that apparently contained 29 minutes of recordings and demanded that Salman Khan be arrested immediately for his admitted links with the underworld. And simultaneously the Bajrang Dal launched a campaign in many cities to stop screenings of Khan's newest release, Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya.

Maharashtra Home Minister R. R. Patil told the Assembly that Khan's telephone had indeed been tapped from August 28 to October 25, 2001. "It was after receiving intelligence that someone was in touch with Abu Salem from a particular number that the phone was placed under observation. It was found that the phone belonged to actor Salman Khan," stated Mr. Patil.

Since then, the Mumbai police have sent the tapes provided by Mr. Munde and by the newspaper to the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Chandigarh to check their authenticity. Last Friday, the CFSL stated it had found that the voices on the tape did not match those of Salman Khan or Aishwarya Rai. The detailed report will be sent to the Maharashtra Government soon. The Mumbai police say the case is now closed.

In fact, it cannot be closed so easily as there are many uncomfortable questions that remain to be answered. The transcripts of the tapes allowed Hindustan Times to make a sensational entry into Mumbai. Although the alleged conversations were four years old, their publication at that particular time coincided with the release of Khan's latest film. If they are doctored tapes, the question that needs to be asked is who provided the tapes and why at this particular juncture. Also, even if the tapes were authentic and the main object of publishing the transcripts was to establish the links between Khan and the underworld, why were the transcripts of Khan's more personal exchanges with two former girl friends also published the next day? Was it just a coincidence that all this happened within days of the actor's new film being released?

The Mumbai police stated that even though the actor's phone had been tapped in 2001, the tapes were not retained. Senior police officials confirm that if any department of the police requires a tap to be placed on a phone for any reason, there is a procedure that must be followed. Written permission has to be sought from the senior-most police official and thereafter from the Home Secretary, justifying why this must be done. There is a clear paper trail in all such matters.

Whether the tapes are retained after such a tap is done is also decided within two to three months of the taping, depending on the relevance of the content of the tapes for ongoing investigations. Therefore, the Mumbai police would need to explain whether they destroyed the tapes because there was no incriminating evidence or whether, as the Home Minister stated in the Assembly, someone had used the phone to contact Abu Salem and therefore they had retained the tapes. If the latter is the case, then how did the tapes make their way to the media? Surely, the police have a record that could be checked.

The media too must pause and consider whether the need for sensation to grab the market has tipped the balance between fact and fiction. Last week, Mumbai saw an illustration of just this when a young man, posing as a journalist, went to a news channel with a document he claimed he had found in the local train. He also claimed that he thought it contained a coded message about planned bombings in the city. The channel did not run with the story and instead asked the police to investigate. It was proved to be hoax.

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