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Rights groups write to PM on scribe's safety

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Human Rights Watch--the leading human rights organization in the US-have jointly written to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee protesting the prosecution of journalist Vineet Narain, whom they have described as "founding editor of the New Delhi-based investigative journal Kalchakra."

In their missive to Vajpayee, the CPJ and HRW said Narain faces contempt of court charges in Jammu and Kashmir state where "his life would be in serious danger."

They urged the prime minister to "order an immediate inquiry into possible political motivations behind Narain's prosecution, and to provide him with appropriate protection if he is required to appear in court in Jammu."

On December 26 last year, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court had issued a notice summoning Narain to Srinagar to answer a contempt-of-court charge arising from an article in the December 16 edition of Kalchakra.

The court had taken issue with a paragraph in the article that questioned the role of Jammu & K High Court justice T.S. Doabia in resolving a land dispute. According to the court, the paragraph "appears to be per se contempt of the court as it has the tendency of bringing the administration of justice to disrepute by attributing disparaging motives and bias to a sitting judge of this court."

The paragraph suggested that Doabia had been unduly influenced by his friendship with Indian Supreme Court chief justice A.S.Anand, who formerly served as chief justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. The February 16, December 1 and December 16,2000 editions of Kalchakra were devoted to allegations that Chief Justice Anand had helped secure legal victories for close family members and associates in various property disputes.

CPJ and HRW informed Vajpayee that in response to the High Court's summons, Narain had filed two petition with the Supreme Court of India, asking first that the contempt case be dropped altogether.In the event that the case was pursued, he wanted the venue be transferred to New Delhi in light of security concerns in Srinagar.

The Supreme Court had then ordered Narain to petition the Jammu and Kashmir High Court directly for a change of venue and the High Court eventually had agreed to transfer the case not to New Delhi but to Jammu.

The CPJ and HRW wrote Vajpayee that Narain fears for his life because of "threats posed by militant groups in Kashmir who were angered by his investigations into their underground funding networks."

Narain, well known in India for exposing the so-called hawala scam, a $18 million bribery scandal that implicated some of the country's leading politicians.

In his reports he wrote that some of those allegedly involved in channeling payoffs to politicians were also responsible for transferring money to militant groups in Kashmir, including the Hezb-ul Mujahedeen.

At the time, during the height of efforts to prosecute those involved in the hawala scandal, the Indian government acknowleged the threat to Narain's safety and provided him with special security protection between 1996 and 1998.

The CPJ and HRW said they "are concerned that the prosecution of Vineet Narain represents an abuse of the contempt of court law, which we believe should never be used to shield members of the judiciary from scrutiny by the press."

They called on Vajpayee to "ensure that a prompt and impartial inquiry is conducted into possible political motivations behind Vineet Narain's prosecution, and to guarantee that local authorities address his security concerns should he appear in court in Jammu."

The two US groups also requested Vajpayee to "ensure that police do not arrest Narain for having missed previous court dates in Jammu, given that he has clearly conveyed his security concerns to the courts in New Delhi,Srinagar, and Jammu."

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