- Joined
- Apr 17, 2009
- Messages
- 43,132
- Likes
- 23,835
The Govt has been riddled with so many fake claims and assertion to include on the 2G scam, CWG, Bhushan tapes et al that none believes a word the Govt states or its so called Agencies and Constitutional bodies!I don't believe govt's claim on Radia tape leak: Ratan Tata
NEW DELHI: Industrialist Ratan Tata has rejected government's claim that official agencies were not responsible for the leak of personal conversations in the Radia tapes, saying the clean chit did not carry conviction, and has urged the Supreme Court to order a fresh investigation by an independent agency.
He said the inquiry conducted by the income tax department, which had intercepted corporate lobbyist Niira Radia's conversations but which blamed the leak on others, lacked credibility. "The inquiry has been conducted in a manner that would hardly inspire public confidence," Tata said in an affidavit.
"On this account, the department which conducted the wire tap has been under scrutiny. Since this is all done at a fairly high level within the departments, for any inquiry to be fair and transparent, it would have to be done by an outside agency skilled in making investigations - this has not been done," Tata complained.
A bench of Justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya on Thursday asked the government to file its response within three weeks on Tata's fresh plea and posted the matter for further hearing on March 27. Tata also sought a copy of government's inquiry report exonerating its agencies. The corporate leader argued that he ought to have a copy of the report as the Centre has relied on it to refute his contention that the leak had violated his right to privacy.
Earlier, in its response to the industrialist's petition protesting against the leak of conversations, finance ministry had acknowledged that the Radia tapes had indeed got leaked. However, it absolved government agencies of blame, suggesting that it could have happened at the service provider's end.
In his fresh affidavit filed on Tuesday, Tata said the government's move to dodge the blame was not going to wash with him.
"There is an indelible impression that the inquiry may well exonerate the department and pass the blame for this lapse to outsiders," the industrialist said, although he stressed that he was going by the material circulating in public domain and that he had no authentic information about the source from which the actual leak of the tapes happened.
"What is of importance is that the inquiry conducted so far is not of that quality as would inspire public confidence on account of the structure of the inquiry as is apparent from the orders placed by the Union government with their earlier affidavits," the industrialist said.
The case mirrors the concern about intrusion into citizens' privacy at a time when governments have cited terrorism and other threats to national security along with the menace of corruption to seek powers to eavesdrop on private phone conversations.
Tata also told the Supreme Court that the I-T department, which taped the conversations, was responsible for safe storage of the tapes, and to ensure that the intercepts were used for the purpose the finance ministry cited to secure permission to place tabs on Radia's telephone conversations. The Union gave the go-ahead for interception of her conversations when finance ministry cited a complaint about her involvement in alleged "anti-national" activities.
"The unauthorized disclosure of intercepted material is in blatant violation of the provisions of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, whether intercepted by the government or by a service provider as its agent and the data collected and information contained therein is a property of the government. Any unauthorized disclosure thereof constitutes violation of Section 5 of OSA," Tata said.
"No person who has received the material in violation of the statutory mandate, including the media, has any right to use or publish the same or to withhold information regarding the source from which it has been illegally obtained," he added.
In his fresh affidavit, the industrialist said if the material retrieved by the I-T department from such extensive wire tapping was not secure, it would amount to serious infraction of the right to privacy guaranteed to every citizen under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The leak of tapes had coincided with disclosures of details of the spectrum scam, and strengthened the perception of "crony capitalism", and fixing of government's decisions.
The case so far:
August 20, 2008 - To probe a complaint received by finance ministry against Niira Radia, I-T department gets permission to intercept her phones for 120 days
May 11, 2009 - Interceptions allowed for another 120 days
A total of 5,851 call were intercepted and collated, came to be known as Radia tapes.
November 26, 2009 - Some of the tapes were handed over to CBI for investigations relating to 2G spectrum scam
May 2010 - First signs of tapes being leaked to website surface
November 2010 - Websites and magazines publish excerpts of personal conversations between Radia and others
November 28, 2010 - TOI first to report Ratan Tata planning to move SC complaining breach of right to privacy
November 29, 2010 - Tata moves SC
January 2011 - Government orders inquiry into the alleged leak of tapes
February 2011 - Government frames guidelines for destruction of private talks in intercepted conversations
February 13, 2012 - Tata files affidavit in SC suspecting government's intent in catching the culprit who leaked Radia tapes; demands probe by outside agency skilled to probe the incident; SC issues notice to Centre
I don’t believe govt’s claim on Radia tape leak: Ratan Tata - The Times of India
What a sad state the Govt has been brought down to!
