Tiwari

Hyderabad, Dec. 25: A public figure, the legal system and the media were today treading on a not-too-familiar terrain after Andhra Pradesh High Court restrained a Telugu television channel from airing a report alleging a sex scandal at the Raj Bhavan here.

The Raj Bhavan dismissed as a “tissue of lies” the charges levelled against governor N.D. Tiwari, the 86-year-old one-time Congress leader who headed at the Centre such key ministries as finance and external affairs. The Raj Bhavan had moved the high court and secured the interim order.

ABN Andhra Jyothi, in the report titled Raj Bhawanlo Rasa Leela, telecast a purported phone conversation with a woman who claimed to have helped send girls from Delhi and other places to work in the Hyderabad Raj Bhavan. The channel also showed some still photographs, the content of which The Telegraph is not disclosing because the matter is in court.

The channel did not show the face of the woman — said to be a Radhika from Delhi — but viewers could hear the voice. The woman made certain references to Tiwari, the girls and the governor’s officer on special duty (OSD), Aryandra Sharma. She added that some Congress MPs were served at the Raj Bhavan guesthouse. “The girls can identify the MPs,” the voice said.

Radhika purportedly told the channel she was shocked at the “tales narrated by the girls and advised them to flee Raj Bhavan with the photos and tapes they could get”. The anchor claimed the channel had videotapes.

A Raj Bhavan statement denied the charges and said: “The governor is 86 years old and in the evening of his life. It is sad and unfortunate that constitutional functionaries are dragged into needless controversies.”

OSD Sharma said in a statement the news report was “fabricated, false and malicious”. Tiwari cancelled all public engagements and the customary Christmas party at the Raj Bhavan, which cited a proposed bandh, which was called off yesterday, as the reason.

The Congress said “verification” was needed as the material could be morphed.

The controversy, which triggered anti-Tiwari demonstrations in front of the Raj Bhavan and elsewhere in the state, has broken at a time the Telangana unrest has put several parts of Andhra Pradesh on the edge.

Sources said the Centre had been considering replacing Tiwari, keeping in mind his age and the contingency of President’s rule in case the Telangana crisis escalates.

Telugu Desam president Chandrababu Naidu demanded that Tiwari be recalled.

The Raj Bhavan had acted quickly after a newspaper from the media group that runs the channel advertised the programme this morning.

The telecast began at 10am but about half an hour later, the high court issued its injunction after Raj Bhavan standing counsel R.S. Jandhyala moved a public interest litigation at the residence of the chief justice. The court was closed because of Christmas.

After the restraint order was issued, the channel aired the programme for some more time before stopping. But it continued telecasting panel discussions on the allegations.

It stopped these too after the Raj Bhavan lawyer warned about contempt of court and the governor’s press secretary threatened “action”.

The hearing will resume on December 30. The outcome will be watched closely in the country where the mainstream media rarely ventures into “bedroom” journalism because of the difficulty in defending the invasion of privacy in court. The complex challenge of establishing “public interest” — as opposed to “of interest to the public” — in such exposes also acts as a deterrent.

Some exceptions had been there, including one in which aspersions were cast on a chief minister, but the publication lost the case and had to apologise and pay damages. Of late, a few channels had aired blurred footage but they mostly dealt with small-time politicians.

V. Radhakrishna, the managing director of the ABN Andhra Jyothi, said: “We have every right to expose the governor. He is exploiting public office and the Raj Bhavan….”

Jandhyala, the Raj Bhavan counsel, said: “Radhika is a labour contractor from Uttarakhand. She is involved in a mud-slinging operation related to the illegitimate son controversy.”

The counsel was referring to a paternity suit against Tiwari, which was dismissed by Delhi High Court on the ground of delay in filing the case. Rohit Shekhar, 30, grandson of a former Union minister, had claimed Tiwari was his biological father and said a private laboratory had concluded after DNA tests that Rohit’s father B.P. Sharma was not his biological parent.