2G scam: Evidence of crime in Niira Radia tapes,says CBI

The court agreed there were several “uncomfortable” issues and “lurking dangers” in the conversations that former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia had had with several people,including industrialists and journalists,and promised to order a “thorough” investigation.

“There are certainly matters to be investigated. There are at least 10 cases of such nature. Some of the items highlighted will become the subject matter of investigation. We will direct thorough investigation into all these issues and there is no doubt about it. As and when occasion arises,we will ask the CBI to investigate,” the court said.

Appearing for the CBI,Additional Solicitor General Paras Kuhad handed over a summary of the analysis of 5,800 tapped conversations,and pointed that at least four cases needed investigation. Fresh Preliminary Enquiries (PEs) could be registered in two cases right away,Kuhad told the court.

He added that investigation of some of the material was beyond CBI’s jurisdiction,and would have to be looked into by the state police. In one of the cases,economic offence was divulged against the backdrop of a corporate battle between entities,Kuhad said.

The bench of Justices G S Singhvi and V Gopala Gowda,which perused the voluminous report prepared by the court-mandated team of CBI and Income-Tax officials,said,“The team has drawn several conclusions and tentative inferences from these transcripts of conversations.

It has highlighted many things which are uncomfortable.”

The bench asked the I-T department why it had not prepared transcripts of the tapped conversations until it was ordered by the court.

“It is all accidental. If the court had not ordered for preparation of transcripts,all this would have never seen the light of the day. Why did you (I-T) not do it on your own when you had 5,800 recorded conversations spanning over more than six hours? You should have looked into it and alerted the government,” the court said.

Referring to a person mentioned in a conversation,the court expressed apprehension about a possible leak of vital information as large companies hired people who had had access to classified data while working for the government.

“What is the guarantee that information will not be disclosed? Is allurement for a private individual work? Such things will destroy a lot of things. It is a great danger,” the court said.

The court,however,made it clear that it was not concerned with private conversations between individuals,and that nobody would be indicted unheard.

There are two petitions before the bench,which will continue to hear the case on Thursday.

Ratan Tata has asked for action against those responsible for the leak of the tapes,saying it infringed upon his fundamental right to life,which includes the right to privacy.

Another petition by the NGO CPIL has sought disclosure of the conversations in the larger public interest,and action against anyone who has broken the law.

Advocate for CPIL Prashant Bhushan asked the court to order a CBI probe and monitor it on the lines of the 2G case. The bench,however,responded: “It is not a very happy scenario to monitor the probe. There are times when proceedings are delayed and we cannot blame anyone. Public confidence is built only when a verdict is delivered.”