Opinion Congress’s rising stars

Who did it?

The in-house inquiry into who leaked the Radia tapes to the media is unlikely to yield results. The picture has become too muddled for anyone to trace the origin of the leak. Several government agencies and individuals were in possession of material from the tapes months before the issue became public. In fact,behind the scenes,a war was waged to prevent the information from being leaked further. About a year ago at the weekly co-ordination meetings of several investigative agencies,including the DRI and the IB,the Income Tax representative shared the information that Radia’s phone was being tapped. On request,a gist of the information collected was forwarded to several agencies. Later,some transcripts and finally the actual tapes were handed over. Two senior journalists,whose names were mentioned in the tapes,called on a very senior Congress leader to express fears of a smear campaign and fake tapes being in circulation. 10 Janpath contacted the Finance Ministry,which sent a copy of the tapes in its possession. All advertisements from a big business house to a major media group were abruptly withdrawn after the group’s TV channel initially broadcast a few transcripts. By the time a South Indian TV channel and Outlook and Open magazines received almost simultaneously a major bunch of tapes,a year had passed since the IT Department first disclosed that it was tapping the lobbyist’s phones.

Crossed connection

Niira Radia made a major mistake by using the services of a network provider for her mobile phone which was actually her own client’s rival. Whenever the government orders a phone tap from a private network,the name of the person under surveillance is sent to the telecom company,which in turn forwards it to the nodal officer of the network for interception. If Radia had only used her client’s network,she would have presumably been alerted about her phone surveillance.

Radia’s chutzpah was also her undoing. She rubbed many powerful people the wrong way. For instance,after the CBI raided the Department of Telecommunication earlier this year,Radia boasted she had got the DIG in charge of investigations transferred within days (His transfer was categorised as routine as he’d been on deputation for seven years).

Blood ties prevail

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi was so upset with Rajathi Ammal and Kanimozhi for bringing disgrace to him via the Radia tapes and raids concerning the 2G scam that last week he cancelled all his appointments and left abruptly for the Yelagiri resort hotel some 100 kilometres from Chennai,without telling his family. However,after three days,his attitude softened towards his third wife’s family. When Kanimozhi reminded him over the telephone that it was her son Aditya’s eighth birthday,he rushed back to the state Capital.

Grasping for clues

THE CBI is investigating the somewhat checkered background of Reverend Jegath Gaspar Raj who is the managing trustee of Tamil Maiyam,an NGO whose offices were raided by the CBI in connection with the 2G scam. A Sri Lankan Tamil,Gaspar who had differences with the LTTE,moved from France to Fiji to Singapore,where he met Karunanidhi’s daughter,Kanimozhi. Gaspar is now settled in Tamil Nadu and his NGO,of which Kanimozhi is a trustee,has secured many state government contracts for organising exhibitions and cultural events.