The site's founder, Tarun Tejpal, blames politics. Nearly two years ago the site rocked the country's political foundations when it released secretly filmed footage of 31 civil servants and senior army officers taking bribes from a fictitious arms dealer.
The scandal led to the resignation of Defence Minister George Fernandes, at whose home the filming took place.
However, the resulting official inquiry has yet to find fault with any of the officials filmed. Fernandes has since been reinstated, while Mr Tejpal's offices and home have been repeatedly raided by various government agencies.
"The government has bombarded us with affidavits saying variously that we are working for the Pakistan government, the Hinduja Brothers - a British-based company accused of corruption - a commercial television company and countless others," said Mr Tejpal. "We've had more false affidavits than hot dinners."
The government's campaign also extended to Tehelka's financial backers. First Global, one of India's largest stockbroking firms, had a 14.5 per cent stake in Tehelka. The company, which is listed on the Nasdaq and the Stock Exchange, has been banned from doing further business in India.
Vir Sanghvi, editor of the Hindustan Times, one of India's largest daily newspapers, said that the effect of case was to deter other journalists from pursuing political corruption stories.
Source: The Financial Times
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