Operation West End was asting operation conducted in 2001 by Indiannews magazineTehelka to expose defence deals conducted by theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ledNDA government ofAtal 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 PresidentBangaru Laxman, accepting bribes and discussingkickbacks. During Operation West End, individuals filmed in the sting operation made allegations and claims of who the most powerful arms dealers or agents in India were.[1]Vipin Khanna,Sudhir Choudhrie andSuresh Nanda faced allegations and claims of being the three most powerful arms dealers in India.[1][2]
The magazine created a fictitious London-basedarms 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 theMinistry of Defence.[3] 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 theIndian Army, an important army procurement post. Sashi Menon and Sehgal provided theTehelka 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 theIndian Air Force. procurement section. After the meeting, Brigadier Sehgal demanded Rs. 200,000 to give documents related to the procurement of hand-heldthermal 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 MinisterGeorge Fernandes. P. Sashi Menon also provided confidential documents related to the procurement ofammunition, tubes, clothing and helicopters.
On 26 November 2000, the team was introduced to Deepak Gupta, the son ofRashtriya 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 thePrime Minister's Office (PMO).[4]
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 MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee andLal 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 treasurerVed Prakash Goyal, and president Bangaru Laxman. He did not want to involveBrajesh Mishra as his price was rupees onecrore.[5]
On December 23, 2000,[6] 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 theDefence Ministry on the supply of hand-held thermal imagers. On January 1, 2001, Laxman accepted onelakh rupees at the BJP’s office for pursuing their proposal.[7] On January 7, 2001, the final meeting held between the fake representatives and Laxman.
The bribes paid during the operation:[8][9]
On March 13, 2001,[6] 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 thegreed of political and bureaucratic people.[10] 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.[11]
In Operation West End, individuals captured in the sting operation made claims and accusations regarding the identities of the most power arms dealers or agents in India. Among those named in the allegations,Vipin Khanna,Sudhir Choudhrie, andSuresh Nanda were alleged to be the three most powerful arms dealers or agents in the country.[1][2] Other named in the allegations as alledly smaller arms dealers were Mohinder Singh Sahani and R.K. Gupta.[1][2] These individuals were later investigated due to the allegations and claims made against them in Operation West End.[12][13]
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.[14]
On April 27, 2012, a specialCBI court convicted Bangaru Laxman ofcorruption charges.[15] The next day, the court sentenced him to four years imprisonment and also imposed a fine of one lakhrupees.[16]
The investigation into the sting operation took a dramatic turn when it was revealed thatprostitutes were supplied to three defence officials.[17] Both the 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.[17]