New Delhi: India's best-known television journalist has defended herself against charges of acting as a go-between in negotiations involving big business and political parties.
Barkha Dutt, a national personality for her appearances on the NDTV news channel, was secretly recorded in a telephone conversation offering to speak to the ruling Congress party on behalf of a corporate lobbyist.
The lobbyist, Nira Radia, works for industrial giants including the Tata Group and Reliance Industries, and her phone was tapped as part of a police investigation into a massive telecoms scandal.
A minister in the Congress alliance is alleged to have sold off 2G telecom licences to mobile operators in 2008 at knock-down prices - costing the country up to 40 billion dollars.
On Tuesday night, Dutt took to the airwaves for a grilling from four senior journalists, including Manu Joseph, the editor of Open Magazine, which first published the leaked telephone transcripts.
Dutt, who is famous for her bullish interviewing style, was quick to apologise for "an error of judgement," but argued that much of the criticism was defamatory and amounted to a personal smear campaign against her.
Dutt's alleged links to the telecoms sales story have increased public interest in what could be one of India's biggest-ever corruption cases.
The scandal has led to paralysis in the national parliament as the opposition, which is keen to benefit from the issue, has blocked all business for 14 days in a campaign for a cross-party probe.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who normally acts above the fray of Indian political battles, has been drawn into the controversy after he was asked to explain his "alleged inaction" over the telecom sales by the Supreme Court.
