30 October,2009 08:24 AM IST | | Manju Shettar
Cultural circles and jurists are outraged by B Jayashree's release of secret audio transcripts to discredit the people who tried to help her settle her spat with actors of repertory company Rangayana
Theatre celebrity B Jayashree has outraged Karnataka's cultural circles by doing a 'sting' on writers and fellow artistes.
Victims of the audio 'sting' are contemplating action against her. Jayashree, who resigned from the Rangayana repertory theatre after a spat with the actors, enclosed transcripts from a meeting when she issued a press release.
Respected writers such as G H Nayak were trying to broker peace between her and the artistes when she got someone in the room to clandestinely record the conversation.
Justice M F Saldanha, known for his pro-citizen judgments, said, "Recording any private conversation is illegal. It is an infringement of the right to privacy."
He said when at the Bombay High Court, he had taken up such privacy issues seriously. "Forget a conversation, it's wrong even to disclose a person's illness," he said.
Agni Sridhar, film-maker and founder of a tabloid, was cutting about Jayashree's actions. "It shows criminal intention, and it's unethical. This is not done, especially in cultural circles. She's set a bad precedent," he said.
K L Chandrashekar Aijoor, scholar at the Study of Social Exclusion, National Law School of India University, said, "When two parties were called for a compromise, instead of reacting positively and settling the issue, she tried to record the conversation. It shows moral bankruptcy."
When MiD DAY called Jayashree's residence, a man said she was upset and had gone to Goa.
(With inputs from Madhusudan Maney)
