Apropos The Graphic Portfolios (May 7), what if we, the common people, were targeted with such a sting op? Would those in power take it seriously?

D. Tomar, Gurgaon

Any public figure knows a certain amount of scrutiny comes with the territory. And this politician was ‘doing’ these things in his professional chambers. That’s absolutely not right.

PK, Bangalore

One might glorify our past, but India’s democracy is imbued with hypocrisy where the mighty live a meaty, moneyed life at the cost of those who elevate them.

Francis Minj, Ranchi

These are cases of influence-peddling pleasure-seekers playing “honey traps” for politicos. They could pose a danger to national security.

A.K. Saxena, Delhi

If it’s consensual sex between adults, with no undue favour to the parties involved, no criminal breach is supposed to have been committed.

Pramod Srivastava, Delhi

13 D

Under gender-biased Indian laws, only adultery by a MAN is a crime.

Adultery by a WOMAN is legally defensible.

why is adultery  a crime ?? Punishable by 5 years imprisonment. It is for the husband and wife to sort out. The government should stay out of it

 The article is well argued, researched and analytical and the joke speaks for itself. One might glorify our past but Indian democracy is imbued with hypocrisy where the mighty live a meaty and moneyed life at the cost of those who elevate them. At least the mighty Bill Clinton accepted his carnal misdemeanor and sought forgiveness. India's is a guilt-free democracy where the elected, erected and ejected will continue to have meaty life because by birth some might get immunity, the Bangarus, Suresh Rams, Madhu Kodas, and Shibu Sorens will get caught. Unlike the West, in India, the talks of private and public lives of public figures sound ridiculous, if not offensive. Morally speaking the private is public. It is the whole human being who is caught, not just the private life. Probably, for this reason the West eschews talking private and public life; it tends rather to talk about legal and illegal. Are we moving in that direction? It will be a catastrophe for the glorious past of India that harmonized the private and public.  

 The latest episode just goes to prove that If you are stupid enough to indulge in intimate office romance , do not be a ridiculous idiot to film it. Secondly if you employ a driver , treat him like a human being . And if at all you are on a terribly weak wicket and guilty as sin; you will have to cut a deal to survive. Do it soon enough, man! A lawyer should know this much!

With horny politicians and nosey journalists in abundance, do we need porn movies?

A well-researched article on sex-CDs in the present indian context..

All the juicy cases cited in the article are fool-proof. These are not cases of “platonic love “between public celebrities and their companions. These are cases of influence pedaling pleasure seekers that could turn out to be “honey traps” for political heavy weights , Officers journalists etc. Once trapped, these could pose a danger to national security or could cause irreparable damage to political parties through mudslinging
 

The moot point is : Should the private lives of public figures be open to Media scrutiny ? Public figures argue that while investigation into their public contribution is legitimate, their private lives should be treated with dignity they deserve under the right to privacy .The extent to which the media are legally free to investigate and publish details of public figures' private lives varies from country to country. For instance, France is much stricter  on protecting personal privacy than UK . Moreover, privacy is now classified as a right under the European Convention of Human Rights. That being so, should the private lives of public figures be fully scrutinized or should the right to privacy trump the freedom of the press?
These are debatable issues impinging on the “Freedom of Speech and expression” flowing from the Right to life enshrined in the Constitution of India.
Let the Press Council of India headed by Retired Justice Markandey Katju ponderover it .

A K SAXENA ( A retired civil servant)
www.aksaxena.co.in
 

As usual, it is only the male who is faulted for having sex.

The female, whether it was for money, favours or something else, is above doing worng.

Great ! Now another reason for mahesh bhatt to legitimize porn-stars/pornography and subject us to his mind-numbing paens on sex and much more mind numbing celluloid products ...

 Why do we need to peep-in others' bedroom/chambers regardless of the positions being held by the persons ? If the sex is consensual between two adults and their act does not prove any quid pro quo towards an undue and unlawful favour to either of them, no criminal breach  is supposed to have been committed. And such instances of physical intimacy have been common among politicians since many decadeds but these are rarely caught on camera, of course.      

Everyone would protest a sleaze video if it is a private video in nature. If any of these exhalted personalities were having sex with their wives, then it would have been a private affair. The problem with these sleaze videos is that they are public in nature of private individuals. 

The case of ND Tiwari is obnoxious, having threesome with girls old enough to be his grand daughters. This is the same man about whom it was said - Jo nar hai na naari hai, wo narayan dutt tiwari hai. 

Sanjay Joshi and Nityanand crossed the limits by using religion all their life for living and breaking the code. Mahipal Maderna is simply a criminal than

Only people who are wronged with sleaze videos are the immediate family members of these public pornstars. Jagjivan Ram case is really tragic. If Maneka Gandhi had gone with her mother-in-law's advice at that time, Indian political scene would have been different. 

I don't know why there's even a debate on this....I think we all know that any public figure should always be up for scrutiny as these are the guys who influence the nation's policies...Now we don't go deliberately into a politician's bedroom to see what is he doing or for that matter, any citizen's as well....Coz we know that's private. But here is this politician who does things in his professional chamber...atleast we know that the place was somewhere connected to his work and dealings and that's absolutely NOT right. Leave aside his disgusting demeanor in the act, this was a guy who thought making a well articulated speech in Rajya Sabha in a serious demeanor is the mark of a serious politician. He is wrong - it's the action which speaks for a politician. Finally for all the arrogance & stinging sarcasm he normally shows (check out any news channel) in trashing politicians on other side of his fence,  this seems like divine justice.

 Lurid and salacious details of sexual esacapades of public figures generate a culture of  disbelief and shock.Such episodes dent the faith of citizenry in public functionaries.These strories presage the decay in socio political culture of nation which is slowly setting in.Critics of democracy will be smiling.Privileged treatment of public figures at times allows them to indulge in their dark desires.They feel they can get away easily as no one will point a finger at them.It is time to restore the stature  attached with high public offices by enforcing stricter codes of moral conduct.It is an insult to prevalent democratic norms when a politician is caught with his pants down.

S.S. Nagraj, Bangalore >> If public figure means a politician,why have you shown a photo of Swami Nityananda?

<< Why not? Does Swamis, have the right to follow the adage," Charo taraf Gopiyan, aur beech mein Kanyaiyan"?

If public figure means a politician,why have you shown a photo of Swami Nityananda?Then is it not fair investigate the murky goings-on in Catholic seminaries of Kerala?Will Tehelka or Cobra have the guts to do a sting operation there?In our country the so called sting operators take the easy path of trapping the weak while they are damn scared of touching the strong.

If public figure means a politician,why have you shown a photo of Swami Nityananda?Then is it not fair investigate the murky goings-on in Catholic seminaries of Kerala?Will Tehelka or Cobra have the guts to do a sting operation there?In our country the so called sting operators take the easy path of trapping the weak while they are damn scared of touching the strong.

S.S. Nagraj, Bangalore >> If public figure means a politician,why have you shown a photo of Swami Nityananda?

<< Why not? Does Swamis, have the right to follow the adage," Charo taraf Gopiyan, aur beech mein Kanyaiyan"?

 Lurid and salacious details of sexual esacapades of public figures generate a culture of  disbelief and shock.Such episodes dent the faith of citizenry in public functionaries.These strories presage the decay in socio political culture of nation which is slowly setting in.Critics of democracy will be smiling.Privileged treatment of public figures at times allows them to indulge in their dark desires.They feel they can get away easily as no one will point a finger at them.It is time to restore the stature  attached with high public offices by enforcing stricter codes of moral conduct.It is an insult to prevalent democratic norms when a politician is caught with his pants down.

I don't know why there's even a debate on this....I think we all know that any public figure should always be up for scrutiny as these are the guys who influence the nation's policies...Now we don't go deliberately into a politician's bedroom to see what is he doing or for that matter, any citizen's as well....Coz we know that's private. But here is this politician who does things in his professional chamber...atleast we know that the place was somewhere connected to his work and dealings and that's absolutely NOT right. Leave aside his disgusting demeanor in the act, this was a guy who thought making a well articulated speech in Rajya Sabha in a serious demeanor is the mark of a serious politician. He is wrong - it's the action which speaks for a politician. Finally for all the arrogance & stinging sarcasm he normally shows (check out any news channel) in trashing politicians on other side of his fence,  this seems like divine justice.

Everyone would protest a sleaze video if it is a private video in nature. If any of these exhalted personalities were having sex with their wives, then it would have been a private affair. The problem with these sleaze videos is that they are public in nature of private individuals. 

The case of ND Tiwari is obnoxious, having threesome with girls old enough to be his grand daughters. This is the same man about whom it was said - Jo nar hai na naari hai, wo narayan dutt tiwari hai. 

Sanjay Joshi and Nityanand crossed the limits by using religion all their life for living and breaking the code. Mahipal Maderna is simply a criminal than

Only people who are wronged with sleaze videos are the immediate family members of these public pornstars. Jagjivan Ram case is really tragic. If Maneka Gandhi had gone with her mother-in-law's advice at that time, Indian political scene would have been different. 

 Why do we need to peep-in others' bedroom/chambers regardless of the positions being held by the persons ? If the sex is consensual between two adults and their act does not prove any quid pro quo towards an undue and unlawful favour to either of them, no criminal breach  is supposed to have been committed. And such instances of physical intimacy have been common among politicians since many decadeds but these are rarely caught on camera, of course.      

Great ! Now another reason for mahesh bhatt to legitimize porn-stars/pornography and subject us to his mind-numbing paens on sex and much more mind numbing celluloid products ...

As usual, it is only the male who is faulted for having sex.

The female, whether it was for money, favours or something else, is above doing worng.

A well-researched article on sex-CDs in the present indian context..

All the juicy cases cited in the article are fool-proof. These are not cases of “platonic love “between public celebrities and their companions. These are cases of influence pedaling pleasure seekers that could turn out to be “honey traps” for political heavy weights , Officers journalists etc. Once trapped, these could pose a danger to national security or could cause irreparable damage to political parties through mudslinging
 

The moot point is : Should the private lives of public figures be open to Media scrutiny ? Public figures argue that while investigation into their public contribution is legitimate, their private lives should be treated with dignity they deserve under the right to privacy .The extent to which the media are legally free to investigate and publish details of public figures' private lives varies from country to country. For instance, France is much stricter  on protecting personal privacy than UK . Moreover, privacy is now classified as a right under the European Convention of Human Rights. That being so, should the private lives of public figures be fully scrutinized or should the right to privacy trump the freedom of the press?
These are debatable issues impinging on the “Freedom of Speech and expression” flowing from the Right to life enshrined in the Constitution of India.
Let the Press Council of India headed by Retired Justice Markandey Katju ponderover it .

A K SAXENA ( A retired civil servant)
www.aksaxena.co.in
 

With horny politicians and nosey journalists in abundance, do we need porn movies?

 The latest episode just goes to prove that If you are stupid enough to indulge in intimate office romance , do not be a ridiculous idiot to film it. Secondly if you employ a driver , treat him like a human being . And if at all you are on a terribly weak wicket and guilty as sin; you will have to cut a deal to survive. Do it soon enough, man! A lawyer should know this much!

 The article is well argued, researched and analytical and the joke speaks for itself. One might glorify our past but Indian democracy is imbued with hypocrisy where the mighty live a meaty and moneyed life at the cost of those who elevate them. At least the mighty Bill Clinton accepted his carnal misdemeanor and sought forgiveness. India's is a guilt-free democracy where the elected, erected and ejected will continue to have meaty life because by birth some might get immunity, the Bangarus, Suresh Rams, Madhu Kodas, and Shibu Sorens will get caught. Unlike the West, in India, the talks of private and public lives of public figures sound ridiculous, if not offensive. Morally speaking the private is public. It is the whole human being who is caught, not just the private life. Probably, for this reason the West eschews talking private and public life; it tends rather to talk about legal and illegal. Are we moving in that direction? It will be a catastrophe for the glorious past of India that harmonized the private and public.  

why is adultery  a crime ?? Punishable by 5 years imprisonment. It is for the husband and wife to sort out. The government should stay out of it

13 D

Under gender-biased Indian laws, only adultery by a MAN is a crime.

Adultery by a WOMAN is legally defensible.