New Delhi: The Supreme Court today dismissed a plea of the Delhi government seeking its approval to go ahead with criminal proceedings against two journalists who had unearthed the cash-for-query scam involving MPs in 2005.
A bench of justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai turned down the petition of the city government challenging the Delhi High Court order which had last year quashed criminal proceedings against Anirudh Bahal and Suhasini Raj.
Bahal and Raj, reporters from website Cobra Post.Com, had done a sting operation in which 11 MPs from different political parties were caught on camera accepting bribes for raising and tabling questions in Parliament in December 2005.
"I consider that in order to expose corruption at higher level and to show to what extent the State managers are corrupt, acting as agent provocateurs, does not amount to committing a crime," the High Court had said.
The Delhi Police had registered an FIR against the two journalists for abetting the crime of giving bribes for MPs for raising questions in Parliament.
A bench of justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai turned down the petition of the city government challenging the Delhi High Court order which had last year quashed criminal proceedings against Anirudh Bahal and Suhasini Raj.
Bahal and Raj, reporters from website Cobra Post.Com, had done a sting operation in which 11 MPs from different political parties were caught on camera accepting bribes for raising and tabling questions in Parliament in December 2005.
"I consider that in order to expose corruption at higher level and to show to what extent the State managers are corrupt, acting as agent provocateurs, does not amount to committing a crime," the High Court had said.
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The Delhi Police had registered an FIR against the two journalists for abetting the crime of giving bribes for MPs for raising questions in Parliament.
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