Undoubtedly sting operations are a legitimate weapon for
investigative journalists but it is not a new practice. It has been into practice
since ages. We all have heard a lot of stories during our childhood from our
grandparents, about kings who would dress up like a labour and would roam
around to learn what the people have to say about them or their kingdom. Wasn't
that a sting operation as well- hiding the identity and using false identity to
attain first hand information?
Contemporary sting operations may be termed as technical
advancements of this ages old practice of truth finding. Sting operation
catches a person live on camera committing a crime or talking about it; the
tapes tell the story. However, the questions arise after this. How many of
those who were caught on camera could be punished in the court of law? Does the
court accept these sting operations as major evidence in the case? How can a
journalist prove that he did not plot the sting operation? Is it acceptable to
violate certain legal or social norms in order to attain some video footage? No
personal or professional interests or enmity exists behind the operation; and
the most important- How will the "public interest" clause will be
justified? Probably, it is the last question which leads to most of the
debates. For me proven public interest and effective end results are most
important. Sting operations must lead to legal action and punishments. If it
fails to achieve this, it remains simply as a TRP booster for a few weeks and nothing
beyond it.
All sting operations are about organized people in law
enforcement and their civilian operatives which usually consists of people that
are either friends or are in some way related to the law enforcement for the
purpose of entrapping or framing. Sting operatives are paid, trained liars and
are immune to prosecution because government allows and permits police to keep
their sting operations covert and therefore they are not required in courts to
admit to such operations and because of this any and all complaints on sting
operations tend to get ignored and suppressed and stonewalled and victims of
sting operations have no recourse at law for remedy should they become victim
of a sting operation!
Thus, because of this organized corruption running
rampant within our system most people know little or nothing about sting
operations and that is by design because the system does not WANT people to
know or understand in detail what a sting operation is or what they do or what
they are about!
PRIYA DEY
( PG MEDIA 2015-2017)
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