Vineet Narain
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Vineet Narain (b. 1956) is a prominent Indian journalist and anti-corruption activist. His exposure of the 1990s Hawala scandal led him to use a public interest petition to apply pressure on the Central Bureau of Investigation. The CBI was widely criticised when its prosecutions collapsed, and the Supreme Court of India in deciding the Vineet Narain Case made directions that included new supervision of the CBI by the Central Vigilance Commission.[1]
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[edit] Family and early life
Born in 1956, Vineet Narain had his primary education in Western Uttar Pradesh and did his higher studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. His father was an academician and served as the Vice Chancellor of two prominent universities in U.P. He fought against interference of the political masters in the admission procedure of some of the professional courses in the state.[citation needed] His mother was active in students politics at the Lucknow University. Her father was then the Secretary of the UP Legislative Council.
Narain married outside his caste. His wife is an assistant professor of Russian language at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She was educated at Modern School in New Delhi. His eldest son Azeez Narain is a student of business administration. His younger son, Eeshit Narain is a Media student.
Narain was drawn to social work from his early youth. He worked in a village at the age of 18 years with an NGO.
[edit] Hawala Scam
Vineet Narain was responsible for bringing the Hawala scandal to light.[citation needed] 115 top bureaucrats were identified as having participated in the scam.[citation needed] Case No.340-43 of 1993, Supreme Court of India
The case got a momentary boost up as a result of a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) filed in the Supreme Court.[citation needed] In 1996 for the first time in Indian history, several cabinet ministers, chief ministers and governors were charge-sheeted.[citation needed] Several landmark decisions were passed by the Supreme Court of India in the Vineet Narain Vs Union of India and Ors case.[unreliable source?][2]
In July 1997, Mr. Narain compelled the Chief Justice of India comment on the Hawala case. He wrote a book on the case entitled Hawala ke Deshdrohi or Dangerous Silence.
[edit] Indian Judiciary
Narain brought out a series of land scams involving of one of the sitting chief justices of India.[citation needed] As a result, contempt of court proceedings were initiated against him and he fled the country.[3] Later on, due to the intervention of various international organisations like Committee to Protect Journalists, all the proceedings against him were withdrawn.[4]
[edit] TV Journalism in India
He launched Kalchakra, the first Hindi-language video magazine, in 1989. He faced hurdles due to financial crisis and by the government controlled censor board. He writes a weekly syndicated column in several regional daily newspapers.
Earlier he worked as a correspondent of national dailies and has appeared in programmes on several international television networks.[citation needed] He began investigative TV journalism in 1980. TV & Video World reported, "It may sound surprising, but men of principles, willing to take tough stand and unwilling to compromise on basic ideals, still exist in our society. When, in April 1987, one of his programmes in the Sach Ki Parchhain series was arbitrarily stopped by Doordarshan authorities, its producer, TV and newspaper journalist Vineet Narain vowed never to present anything on the government-controlled network until it was made autonomous and functioned more democratically."[citation needed]
[edit] Current Activities
Vineet Narain writes a syndicated column in over 22 national dailies on a weekly basis. Vineet Narain gives a weekly news report from India on telephone to SBS Radio, Australia and also contributes to weekly columns in two dozen popular dailies of India.[citation needed]
Through Kalchakra Investigative News Bureau, he, along with his associates, undertake investigative journalism in India. He is also the founder Secretary of People’s Vigilance Commission, a group headed by J F Ribeiro, Ex-DGP, Punjab. Narain has been involved in the wider restoration works in Braj.[5]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Vineet Narain Case, Directions of the Court accessed at [1] Nov 2, 2006
- ^ Vineet Narain's web-site
- ^ INDIA: Vineet Narain contempt trial postponed, August 10, 2001, Committee to Protect Journalists, New York accessed at [2] Nov 2, 2006
- ^ India annual report 2002, Reporters Without Borders accessed at [3] Nov 2, 2006
- ^ www.brajfoundation.org
