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SC wants to see complaint about Niira being 'spy'

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the government to show it the complaint accusing Niira Radia of espionage and anti-national activities, which has been cited as the justification for intercepting her phone conversations. A Bench comprising Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly asked attorney general G E Vahanvati to bring the original complaint in a sealed cover for the perusal by judges on February 2 next year. The court, which was hearing veteran industrialist Ratan Tata's petition alleging that the disclosure of tapes had violated his right to privacy, cautioned against maligning reputations and argued for the individual's right to protect his dignity. In an affidavit to the SC, in response to Tata's petition, Centre had justified tapping Radia's phones by citing the alleged complaint to the finance minister that "Ms Radia had within a short span of 9 years built up a business empire worth Rs 300 crore, that she was an agent of foreign intelligence agencies and that she was indulging in anti-national activities". The complaint cited by the finance ministry is significant because it conforms to the grounds "national unity and integrity, state security, etc" on which phone tapping is allowed. The impression so far was that tabs were put on Radia's conversations for something less serious — suspected tax evasion. The hearing in the court on Monday showed that the case was getting tied into the "individual's privacy versus national security" debate that has intensfied in the age of terrorism. The disclosure of assets has been welcomed for the light it has shown on the corporate-politician-lobbyist nexus and their move to influence who got the crucial telecom ministry after the 2009 polls. Justices Singhvi and Ganguly, however, struck a strong note of caution. "Let us make it clear that names should not be dragged and images tarnished. The most precious right of an individual is the right to live with dignity and everyone is entitled to its protection." Opening arguments on Tata's petition and seeking court's redressal for the damage to his image because of the leak of tapes which were supposed to be in the exclusive custody of government agencies, senior advocate Harish Salve said, "Any part of these tapes could be looked into by the CBI or any other investigating agency. But publication of comments made in private should not be made public as it could lead to tarnishing images of others." He gave the example of an excerpt from Radia tapes in which a person was heard talking about 15% being taken by a minister for every project. "In this, the minister gets damned without there being any evidence about his wrongdoing. This is objectionable. And this is the reason why conversations in purely private domain should not be published," Salve said. He was countered by advocate Shanti Bhushan who, arguing for NGO 'Centre for Public Interest Litigation' (CPIL) which sought an SC-monitored probe into the 2G spectrum scam, demanded that the cache of Radia tapes be made public. He said an exception should be made only for conversations purely in the private domain. Magazines 'Open' and 'Outlook', which have published the tapes, questioned the maintainability of Tata's petition, terming it as one which involved only private interest. Both senior advocates, Anil Divan and Rajeev Dhawan, said there was no public interest involved in the petition and if Tata wanted, he could sue the magazines for defamation. Arguing for "zealous guarding of freedom of Press", the counsel argued that Tata had neither claimed any relief against media nor questioned the authenticity of the tapes. He had not pointed out which part of the tapes fell within the private domain, they said. SC slams media The Supreme Court on Monday took serious note of the "distortions" in reportage of court proceedings, be it 2G spectrum scam or Ratan Tata's petition seeking protection of his right to privacy in the wake of disclosure of Radia tapes. A bench comprising Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly said it had mentioned about a senior official in the Union government saying the Radia tape disclosures were the "tip of the iceberg". The bench said, "We are finding distorted reporting of court proceedings. We will make it clear — do not take the risk of being hauled up." NGO to move SC Having successfully pleaded for preservation of the entire Radia tapes, NGO 'Centre for Public Interest Litigation' plans to move the SC on Tuesday seeking to counter industrialist Ratan Tata petition on breach of privacy.

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