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Commission to probe motives behind tehelka expose
The Venkataswami Commission on Thursday said it would probe whether Tehelka.Com`s expose on corruption in defence deals, `Operation Westend`, was a purely journalistic endeavour or motivated by financial considerations or political conspiracies.
''It would include in its fold whether the motivation of Tehelka.Com in embarking upon the entire 'Operation Westend' is out of purely journalistic angle or had financial or economic aspects besides political and other conspiracies,'' the chairman said.
He said the means also assumed importance in the circumstances of the case. During arguments, counsel for Jaya Jaitly, Niloy Dutta, had said the ethics of using call girls and the question of blackmailing of defence personnel needed to be addressed.
Accepting the plea of defence minister George Fernandes to be examined first before examining any other witness, the chairman, however, said the minister could be called again at a later stage, if necessary.
Bureau Report
Mr Fernandes is likely to depose on December 14 as his counsel informed that the minister would be unavailable on Wednesdays and Thursdays as Parliament is in session. However, a decision on the date of Mr Fernandes' appearance would be taken on December 3.