After NDTV journalist Pallava Bagla was seen misbehaving with ISRO scientists during a media interaction following the descent of Vikram lander on moon from the Chandrayaan-2 mission, another shocking fact about regarding Bagla and ISRO has surfaced. Bagla had demanded that only ISRO chairman should address the media, terming ISRO scientist DP Karnik, who was addressing the media, as ‘junior’.

It was later known that Pallava Bagla has covered ISRO for years, and he is close to ISRO officials and scientists. He is so close the space research organisation that even NDTV promoter Prannoy Roy thinks he has contributed a lot to ISRO, a reason perhaps why he had considered below his dignity to be briefed by anyone below the ISRO chief. Now, it has been discovered that Bagla has been selling images taken at ISRO premises for payment.

The NDTV journalist has uploaded hundreds of images on commercial photography site Getty, which are available for sale. Many of such images are from ISRO premises, showing individual scientists, including chairman Dr Kailasavadivoo Sivan, and various satellites and other scientific instruments being developed and assembled at ISRO. Most of such images are priced at ₹23,000, or similar amounts.

After discovering the images, social media users have started whether it is legal and ethical, and whether Pallava Bagla has obtained permission from ISRO and scientists before selling their photographs for personal benefit.

If selling photographs of @isro scientists for making personal money is to be considered a great service to the nation, then we need to define “service”. Seriously. I am so so so angry at this level of opportunistic thick skinned shamelessness. Unthinkable. https://t.co/pt02sxEUoQ — Yashwant Deshmukh ?? (@YRDeshmukh) September 8, 2019

Pallava Bagla’s clicks of ISRO premises point towards something more sinister than just self interest ISRO is a govt org and photography permission is a must. Was he exploiting his privileged access? Check the link. Images are full of sensitive details https://t.co/qsuL5ocysH — Monica (@TrulyMonica) September 8, 2019

Very shocking & shameful! Utter nonsense and cheap activity by NDTV journalist Pallava Bagla. No respect for women, no respect for scientists & last but not the least no respect for nation. Disgusting! https://t.co/FJfpCGClVw — Rohan Pramod Manoor (@rohanmanoor) September 8, 2019

Very shocking & shameful! Utter nonsense and cheap activity by NDTV journalist Pallava Bagla. No respect for women, no respect for scientists & last but not the least no respect for nation. Disgusting! https://t.co/FJfpCGClVw — Rohan Pramod Manoor (@rohanmanoor) September 8, 2019

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Getty is world’s leading stock image and editorial photography site, and the terms of conditions for selling images on the platform says, “You must have written permission from an individual or property owner allowing the use of that person’s likeness or property (for example, a private home, a place of business) for commercial purposes”. It says that “a release is required for all content that includes recognizable people or properties”.

Although Getty rules talk about taking permission, that rule is applicable for commercial licences, and not editorial licenses. All of his images are under Editorial licence category, so he may not be violating Getty terms, but that still leaves a question, whether ISRO allows photos of its properties and people to be used for commercial purposes. It is not known whether the NDTV journalist has obtained any permission from ISRO and the individuals that he has photographed before using their photographs for is own commercial benefit.

Pallava Bagla covered ISRO as a journalist of NDTV, and it is not known whether NDTV allows its journalists to use images collected during the job for personal benefit.

BJP MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar also raised these questions after he encountered the images.

This is disturbing n needs digging into. Are journos acredited to “news” companies – permttd to exploit access for personal business? Did journo take explicit permssn frm subject? Did his “organztn” allow this ? A new code is clearly reqd @PMOIndia @PrakashJavdekar https://t.co/MhQKfcTC27 — Rajeev Chandrasekhar ?? (@rajeev_mp) September 8, 2019

Social media users have also noted that Pallava Bagla has been capturing images of women scientists and selling those on Getty.

The website of Getty Images shows that Pallava Bagla has uploaded 3853 images, and 507 of them include the tag ISRO.

It may be noted that he has uploaded photographs from many other scientific institutions from around the world, not just ISRO. Such images include inside of a nuclear reactor in Russia, inside and outside of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant etc.

As it is not known whether Bagla had obtained permission from ISRO and concerned persons, and whether ISRO has any policy on commercial use of photogpraphs shot in its premises, it can’t said whether Bagla is violating any norms or not.