The Delhi High Court’s recent order regarding the defamation case involving former Army officer Major General MS Ahluwalia, journalists Tarun Tejpal, Aniruddha Bahal, and Mathew Samuel, along with the news platform Tehelka.
The case dates back to 2001 when Tehelka conducted a sting operation called “Operation West End,” alleging that Major General MS Ahluwalia was involved in taking bribes in defense deals. The sting operation was telecast on Tehelka.com and Zee TV Network. Subsequently, a court of inquiry was held, which recommended Ahluwalia’s dismissal from service. However, the Army Chief at that time decided to award him a “severe displeasure (recordable),” which led to him being held as “unbecoming of an army officer.”
Major General Ahluwalia approached the court in 2002, arguing that the video tape and transcript created a false impression that he had demanded Blue Label Whisky and ₹10 lakh from the reporter during the sting operation. He claimed that the allegations were false, motivated, mischievous, and deliberately done without verifying the true facts. He also stated that the video was tampered with, selectively edited, and had editorial comments added to it without any substantiation by facts.
The recent Delhi High Court order ruled in favor of Major General Ahluwalia, stating that Tehelka and its journalists defamed him by showing comments in the news reports suggesting that he had demanded money, which he had not done. The court found that the apology offered at this stage was irrelevant, as Ahluwalia had already faced the Court of Inquiry and suffered damage to his reputation for over 23 years. The court noted that the magnitude of the defamation was significant, making an apology insufficient to address the harm caused.
As a result of the ruling, Tehelka, Tarun Tejpal, Aniruddha Bahal, Mathew Samuel, and the news platform Zee TV Network were ordered to pay ₹2 crore in damages to Major General MS Ahluwalia for the defamation.
Name- Divya Choudhary , College- National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi. , Semester-2nd semester (1ST Year), an intern under Legal Vidhiya
