The Indian media and certain prominent journalists came under the Supreme Court scanner on Tuesday for allegedly receiving pay-offs and favours from Italian firm AgustaWestland and its parent company Finmeccanica to publish in favour of the skewed multi-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal.

A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Arun Mishra agreed to hear noted journalist and author Hari Jaisingh on his plea that the top court should intervene in the ongoing investigation of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) and direct the two agencies to submit a status report on whether the media played a role in influencing the deal for a dozen VVIP helicopters.

The court asked Mr. Jaisingh, represented by senior advocate Geeta Luthra, to provide CBI and ED with copies of his petition.

The CAG had released a report in the Parliament in August 2013 that significant departures were made from the Defence Procurement Procedure Rules (DPPR) 2006 to award the Rs.3,727 crore contract for the purchase of the 12 helicopters.

In a move throwing the spotlight on the media and its machinations, that too coming from a veteran scribe, the petition sought the Supreme Court to set up a commission of inquiry under the stewardship of a retired judge of the apex court or any other eminent person to investigate “allegations of corruption and influence peddling in the Indian media, and to suggest corrective measures to safeguard against such ills”.

Pointing to leakage of classified documents from the Defence Ministry dealing with big-ticket procurement and plans, Mr. Jaisingh said “...it is therefore crucial to note that such active nexus between the so-called agents of defence dealings with journalists should be scrutinised by this Honourable Court”.

Mr. Jaisingh, in his petition, said a journalist is “akin” to a public servant. The former, considering his sacredness of his duty to the public, should bear the same responsibility and show the same restraint as the latter.

Mr. Jaisingh sought the apex court to direct the Union of India to obtain affidavits of financial disclosures from the members of the media who have received funding and hospitality from foreign and domestic defence and other ancillary industries. The petition said that such disclosures should be made public.

The veteran journalist based his contentions in the petition on the probe documents of the AgustaWestland scam case, especially the Italian investigative report admitted and discussed in the Milan Court of Appeals.

He notes how Christian Michel, a “facilitator” based here, was allocated Rs. 217 crore, approximately Euros 30 Million, by Giuseppe Orsi, the CEO of Finmeccanica, and Bruno Spaglioni the CEO of AgustaWestland for managing government officials in India.

“Of this sum, six million Euros (approximately 50 crore) was set aside specifically to manage the Indian media,” the petition contended.

The petition alleged how in 2013, Finmeccanica invited a group of Indian journalists on a fully paid for trip to Italy. “Notably, it was Christian Michel who had organised and facilitated the entire trip for the journalists. Respondent No. 3 (ED) was reportedly investigating one of the journalists who was receiving hospitality from AgustaWestland in March 2015,” the petition said.