J Gopikrishnan is an Indian journalist who wrote a series of reports exposing the 2G scam case from 2008 to 2013. He was awarded the ‘Ramnath Goenka Journalist of the Year Award’ for Print in 2012 for his series on the 2G telecom scam published in ‘The Pioneer’ newspaper.
His first report on the 2G Scam case appeared in The Pioneer on December 11, 2008, exposing the hidden list of companies floated by relatives of then-Telecom Minister A. Raja. He continuously authored several series of reports on various aspects of the 2G scam, Aircel-Maxis Scam, and other related violations of the telecom scandal, focusing on the politico- corporate players involved over three years. The Pioneer published more than 200 reports on the telecom scandal which shook the Indian Government led by the Congress party, and these reports were pivotal to their election defeat in 2014. The reports included midnight letters between then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Telecom minister A. Raja, an expose of the phone tapping of lobbyist Niira Radia, murky activities in BSNL’s WiMax franchisee allotments, hidden minutes of the meetings between then-Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Telecom Minister A. Raja, and violations in FIPB approvals of the Aircel-Maxis scam by former Finance Minister P Chidambaram. Time Magazine in 2011 declared the 2G Scam as the second biggest abuse of power in the World, citing 10 such cases.
In addition to the Ramnath Goenka award for the 2009 Journalist of the Year (awarded in January 2012), Gopikrishnan also received the CNN-IBN television channel’s ‘Indian of the Year’ award (Special category) in December 2010 and the Rajasthan Patrika’s KC Kulish International Award for Excellence in Journalism 2010 (awarded in March 2014). He also presented a paper on ‘Telecom scandal of India” at SKUP, an international journalists’ conference in Norway in March 2012.
The National Herald scam involving then-Congress President Sonia Gandhi and then-Vice President Rahul Gandhi was first reported by Gopikrishnan in The Pioneer on October 9, 2012. He is also a main witness in the case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy before the Court of Metropolitan Magistrate, New Delhi.
Early life
J Gopikrishnan was born in June 1970 in Thalassery, Kerala. Following a post-graduate course in Public Administration, he began his career in 1994 as a Sub-Broker in the Kerala Stock Exchanges, switching over to the media field in late 1995 as a stringer at Doordarshan’s Thiruvananthapuram station. He was a television producer of several documentaries for Doorsharshan and Asianet TV channels. He obtained a Post-Graduate Diploma in Journalism from the Institute of Journalism, Press Club, Thiruvananthapuram in 1999. He worked with several media organisations in Kerala before moving to Delhi and joining ‘The Pioneer’ in May 2008. He also writes columns for several publications.
Anti-Corruption Movement
J. Gopikrishnan has been actively involved in the anti-corruption movements in India starting from late 2010, when the 2G Scam case hit the headlines following the resignation and arrest of then Telecom Minister A. Raja. He was a complainant to the CBI and CAG from 2009 regarding the ramifications of the scam, demanding probes into the telecom scandal. He deposed before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament in March 2011 on the telecom scandal.
He was an active member of the Action Committee Against Corruption in India (ACACI), headed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reform (CJAR) headed by noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan. He associated with Subramanian Swamy and Prashant Bhushan in their legal cases on the telecom scandal and other major corruption cases. Gopikrishnan has participated in seminars in India and abroad and made speeches on media ethics and corporatisation of the media. He is a regular speaker in several media institutes.
This is the personal website of J Gopikrishnan, where he publishes reports authored by him in many publications.