Operation West End was a sting operation conducted in 2001 by Indian news magazine Tehelka to expose defence deals conducted by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Over a seven-and-half-month investigation, special correspondents of the magazine filmed several corrupt defence officials and politicians of NDA government including the BJP President Bangaru Laxman accepting bribes and discussing kickbacks.

Sting operation

The magazine created a fictitious London-based arms manufacturing company called 'West End International'. Investigative journalists from the magazine would get in touch with junior officers of the Indian defence establishment and move upwards.

The operation started with Senior Section Officer P. Sashi Menon who was posted in the Ministry of Defence.[1] After getting some monetary incentive, P. Sashi Menon took the team to Brigadier Anil Sehgal’s house in New Delhi. Sehgal was then the Deputy Director in Directorate General of Ordnance and Supply (DGOS) in the Indian Army, an important army procurement post. Sashi Menon and Sehgal provided the Tehelka team with information about the defence products being but the army and instructions on how to proceed in order to sell their products.

Brigadier Sehgal demanded to be entertained in a five-star hotel to which the team agreed. He also brought in Lt. Colonel Sharma, who was an army officer posted in procurement section of the Indian Air Force. procurement section. After the meeting, Brigadier Sehgal demanded Rs. 200,000 to give documents related to the procurement of hand-held thermal cameras and other equipment that the company might be interested in supplying to the Indian Army. After accepting the money he also advised on how to proceed in the matter of bidding for the hand-held thermal cameras. During the conversation, Brigadier Sehgal said that the company would have to pay to everyone and some percentage would also reach the then Defence Minister George Fernandes. P. Sashi Menon also provided confidential documents related to the procurement of ammunition, tubes, clothing and helicopters.

On 26 November 2000, the team was introduced to Deepak Gupta, the son of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) trustee R. K. Gupta. Deepak Gupta assured that he would help the UK based company bag the project and talked about his influence in the government. In the subsequent meetings he elaborated on his functioning and said that he worked from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).[2]

The team then met R. K. Gupta, the RSS trustee and a big defence middleman. He was quite vocal about his relationship with the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani and said that both of them were tenants at his properties. He had also helped establish the RSS headquarters in 1967 in Jhandewala, Delhi. He assured the team that he will get their work done and will pay the bribes on their behalf to the Defence Secretary, Joint Secretary, Under Secretary, BJP treasurer Ved Prakash Goyal, and president Bangaru Laxman. He did not wanted to involve Brajesh Mishra as his price was rupees one crore.[3]

On December 23, 2000,[4] journalists posing as representatives of the arms manufacturing company held their first meeting with the then BJP chief Bangaru Laxman. They then met him several times over the period of one week and promised to compensate him for his recommendation to the Defence Ministry on the supply of hand-held thermal imagers. On January 1, 2001, Laxman accepted one lakh rupees at the BJP’s office for pursuing their proposal.[5] On January 7, 2001, the final meeting held between the fake representatives and Laxman.

Bribes paid

The bribes paid during the operation:[6][7]

  • P. Sashi Menon, Senior Section Officer, Directorate General of Ordnance and Supply (DGOS) – Rs. 52,000.
  • Brigadier Anil Sehgal, Director, Directorate General of Ordnance and Supply (DGOS) – Rs. 40,000.
  • Brigadier Iqbal Singh, Prospective Procurement Officer (PPO) – Rs. 50,000.
  • Lt. Colonel (Retd.) Sayal, former officer in the Directorate General of Ordnance and Supply (DGOS) and a defence middleman – Rs. 80,000.
  • Major General (Retd.) S. P. Murgai, retired Additional Director General, Quality Assurance – Rs. 1,40,000.
  • Narendra Singh – Rs. 10,000
  • H. C. Pant, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Defence – Rs. 60,000.
  • Jaya Jaitly, president of Samta Party and partner of Defence Minister George Fernandes – Rs. 2,00,000
  • R. K. Jain, treasurer of Samta Party – Rs. 50,000.
  • Bangaru Laxman, president of Bharatiya Janata Party – Rs. 1,00,000.
  • Sathyamurthi, secretary to Bangaru Laxman – A gold chain.
  • Raju Venkatesh, secretary to Bangaru Laxman – Rs. 10,000.
  • Surendra Sulekha, industrialist from Kanpur – Rs. 1,00,000.
  • Major General Choudary, Additional Director General, Weapons and Equipment (ADE, W.E.) – Rs. 1,00,000 and a gold chain.
  • Suresh – Rs. 7,000
  • Raghupati – Rs. 16,000

Aftermath

On March 13, 2001,[4] Tehelka released video CDs of the sting operation that led to political storm in India. Bangaru Laxman had to resign from the position of BJP president. It emerged that the defence deals were not driven by considerations of national security, but by the greed of political and bureaucratic people.[8] The defence minister George Fernandes was forced to resign. Jaya Jaitly resigned as president of the Samta party. Mamata Banerjee, an important ally of the coalition quit the government.[9]

The government booked Tehelka under many sections and used Inland Revenue, Enforcement Directorate and Intelligence Bureau but could not find anything. Investors of the website were also investigated and Tehelka’s financer Shanker Sharma was imprisoned without any charge. The journalists who carried out the investigation were also imprisoned.[10]

Judgement by court

On April 27, 2012, a special CBI court convicted the former BJP President, Bangaru Laxman of corruption charges.[11] On April 28, 2012, the court sentenced him to four year of rigorous imprisonment and also imposed a fine of one lakh rupees.[12]

Controversy

The investigation into the sting operation took a dramatic turn when it was revealed that prostitutes were supplied to three defence officials.[13] Both Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and Samata Party condemned it and raised the questions on ethical side of investigative journalism. However, Aniruddh Bahal, the journalist who was a part of the operation said, “When the demand came from armymen (to have prostitutes) we were foxed. We resisted it. We were baffled. But the demand was so forceful we could not proceed further without catering to their demand.” They decided to provide prostitutes to show that officials were ready to go to any level.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Tehelka's Operation West End, March 24, 2001, Outlook.
  2. ↑ Tehelka's Operation West End, March 24, 2001, Outlook.
  3. ↑ Page 5, Tehelka's Operation West End, March 24, 2001, Outlook.
  4. 1 2 Tehelka sting: How Bangaru Laxman fell for the trap, April 27, 2012, India Today.
  5. ↑ Operation West End: The Bangaru Laxman Tape, April 27, 2012, YouTube.
  6. ↑ Bribes Paid During Operation West End, March 24, 2001, Outlook.
  7. ↑ "CBI court appreciates Haryana ex-IAS officer's evidence in case that saw a retired Major General getting 3-yr jail". 14 September 2019.
  8. ↑ Operation West End, March 20, 2001, The Hindu.
  9. ↑ The Sting That Has India Writhing, March 16, 2001, The New York Times.
  10. ↑ Website pays price for Indian bribery expose, January 6, 2003, The Guardian.
  11. ↑ Bangaru Laxman convicted of taking bribe, April 28, 2012, The Hindu.
  12. ↑ Bangaru Laxman sentenced to 4-year rigorous imprisonment, April 28, 2012, The Hindu.
  13. 1 2 Tehelka expose: Armymen bribed with prostitutes, August 22, 2001, Rediff.
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