September 9, 2014 · Posted in: Free Expression - Asia, Freedom of Information, General
Woman? Reporter? No problem
‘I have never felt disadvantaged being a woman reporter’
Ritu Sarin is the investigations editor of the Indian Express group, and is the winner of several awards including the Ramnath Goenka Award and the Prem Bhatia award for excellence in journalism. ICIJ recently spoke to her about some of her most prominent investigations and her career as an investigative editor.
You recently worked with ICIJ on the Offshore Leaks investigation. What did you uncover about offshore secrecy in India, and what results did you see from your reporting?
It was an amazing assignment and since it required months of work, I later realized it could only be done with my newspaper joining in as a media partner. All I had to begin with was a list of names, each of which had to be researched. In many individual cases of BVI investors, sheafs of documents had to be analyzed.
There were two things that surprised me. One was that even in the Indian Central Bank and the Reserve Bank of India there was no clarity on individual ownership of companies registered in tax havens. The second was how in just one company – Portcullis Trustnet – in one tax haven, as many as 600 Indians had invested and routed funds. As it transpired, many of them turned out to be tycoons, prominent businessmen and two of them, members of Parliament.
One of your best-known investigations was known as the “Tata Tapes,” and revealed secret conversations between the directors of a leading tea company and politicians. Tell us a bit about what you found and how you reported the story?
It was one of the first major stories in India gleaned from telephone interception so it created a lot of excitement, both in the office and post-publication. I recall telling my editors that we should not edit any conversations or else people would attribute motives for doing so.
The story was about a banned terror outfit in Assam in northeast India, allegedly being paid off by prominent business houses, including the Tatas. The Tatas had repeatedly been told by the terror group that they would not be allowed to operate in Assam if they did not pay for their peace.
Once the story appeared, the Government denied any role in the wiretaps and said the Intelligence Bureau was also not involved. A formal inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was ordered and I as well as my editors were called for “questioning” in Mumbai. There were many sessions held with company lawyers and I obviously gave nothing away on how or from whom I procured the tapes. A few months later, the CBI was forced to close the case “for want of evidence.”
What is the path that led you to investigative journalism in the first place?
