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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Radia taps on 'complaint' of her being 'foreign agent': Govt to SC by Dhananjay Mahapatra

Radia taps on 'complaint' of her being 'foreign agent': Govt to SC by Dhananjay Mahapatra

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published Published on Dec 10, 2010   modified Modified on Dec 10, 2010

The Union government on Friday strongly defended the interception of Niira Radia's telephones, saying that this was done because of a probe into complaints alleging that she "as an agent of foreign intelligence agencies" and was "indulging in anti-national activities." 

A joint affidavit filed by ministries of home and finance as well as the Income Tax department said, "A complaint was received by the finance minister dated November 16, 2007, inter alia, alleging that Ms Radia had, within a short span of 9 years, built up a business empire worth Rs 300 crores, that she was an agent of foreign intelligence agencies and that she was indulging in anti-national activities. On this complaint, it was directed that the matter should be examined." 

The affidavit was filed in response to industrialist Ratan Tata's petition that leak of intercepted conversations of Radia, a corporate communications consultant engaged by the Tata group, breached his right to privacy. He made the ministries of finance and home, along with the CBI and the I-T department, respondents. 

A Supreme Court Bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly on December 2 had issued notices to all the four respondents. In its affidavit, the I-T department asserted that Radia's phones were intercepted strictly in keeping with the procedure laid down for the purpose, and that it was not responsible for the leak. 

Significantly, it added that it was "neither be possible nor practical" to retrieve the leaked tapes which have found their way to the media and on the Internet. 

The Supreme Court during the hearing in the 2G spectrum scam, had secured possession of the entire stash of Radia tapes. 

The affidavit gave details of the interception — "1,450 call records of the telephone of Ms Radia containing recording of about 100 hours pertaining to the period May 12, 2009 to July 9, 2009" and "5,800 calls on the telephone of Ms Radia for the period July 9, 2009 to August 20, 2009." 

The affidavit by additional director of Income Tax (Investigation) Sushil Kumar said interception of over 22 telephones lines of Radia and her associates in three tranches from August 19, 2008 to July 9, 2009, was done after obtaining prior permission from the Union home ministry. It added that the leak did not happen from its side and assured the court that the remaining Radia tapes were in safe custody. 

On Tata's interim relief plea seeking stoppage of further publication of the Radia tapes in newspapers and magazines, the I-T department said, "It is not possible or practical for the government to take steps to retrieve the various copies of some of the transcripts which have appeared in the print media or in the electronic media and which are being circulated on the Internet." 

It also resisted Tata's suggestion that the investigating agency, to protect right to privacy which is closely linked to right to life of a citizen, must destroy those conversations which are not related to the spectrum scam. 

The department responded, "There is no question of destruction of the records since the investigation in respect of the action points emanating from the conversations have not yet been completed by the Income Tax department as well as other investigation agencies." 

It, however, reiterated that "secrecy and security have been maintained and the integrity and safety of the data in electronic form have been ensured through proper checks in the system through which the recordings have taken place." 

It added, "Never in the past had any electronic intercepts made by the I-T department appeared in the media. Nevertheless, an inquiry into this matter is in progress, and on the basis of material which is available, there is no reason to believe that the telephone intercepts have been leaked from the I-T department." 

Suggesting that the information could have been leaked by service providers — that is, mobile and basic telecom companies — the affidavit said: "the IT department has no powers with regard to service providers and if it is established that any service provider was responsible for the unauthorized supply of the information, the ministry of telecommunications or any other competent authority will have to take further action."


The Times of India, 11 December, 2010, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Radia-taps-on-complaint-of-her-being-foreign-agent-Govt-to-SC/articleshow/7079891.cms


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