New Delhi: Former Editor of The Hindu newspaper, N. Ram, on Wednesday said that his newspaper was “totally justified” in publication the knowledge associated with the Rafale fighter jets deal and underlined that he and the newspaper are protected by the law.
He additionally stressed that he would never reveal the identity of his sources, come what may, as he could not be forced to do so under any law.
This comes once the govt. told the Supreme Court that the documents relied upon by the newspaper, that revealed an account of the Rafale deal contrary to the Narendra Modi government’s narrative, had been stolen from the Defence Ministry.
The government additionally threatened to book the newspaper and its former Editor under the Official Secrets Act.
Ram said that any investigative journalism, whether it relates to the national security or the other government policy, could draw the government’s ire as it could “always take cover under integrity and sovereignty of country, etc”.
“We are absolutely protected under the Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of Republic of India which provides expression of freedom, and additionally by the right to information Act, specifically Sections 8(1)(i) and 8(2), that overwrites the Official Secrets Act of 1920,” Ram said in an interaction with NDTV news channel.
He called the Official Secrets Act an “obnoxious and repressive piece of legislation” that was enacted to shield the interests of British|the British|Brits|nation|land|country|a people} rule “against the people of Republic of India and against the freedom movement”.
“So, I don’t think there is any real threat here. And we do not know how it’ll play in the Supreme Court because the hearing has been adjourned to March fourteen.
“All I can say is that we are absolutely justified in publication this info. The investigative journalism comes into play exactly once the information that should be in public domain isn’t there, or is consciously suppressed as a cover-up. And I think it’s our duty to (unearth such details) provided the issue is relevant and of the larger public interest,” he said.
“We are fully committed to protecting the identity of the sources. Nothing can make me or us reveal the identity of the sources. Let the sources be absolutely assured on this. Fortunately, in India you cannot be forced to reveal your sources,” he added.
