Angry Ratan Tata to move Supreme Court on tapes

Peeved over the publication of tapes of conversation of its corporate communications official, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata said he would move the Supreme Court for violation of right to privacy.

Ratan Tata told NDTV in an interview that he will move the apex court over the publication of the tapes meant for investigation in the 2G scam.

The Tata’s petition in the Supreme Court will focus on the fact that phones can be tapped but they should not be made public.

He said the Tata Group never subverted any policy through Niira Radia, the public relations consultant of the Tatas belonging to Vaishnavi Communications firm.

Indian magazines Outlook and Open published in their latest editions transcripts and audio tapes (on their websites) of purported conversations between Niira Radia, dubbed as a corporate lobbyist, and her friends in media – NDTV group editor Barkha Dutt and Hindustan Times advisory editorial director Vir Sanghvi, which dwell on the telecom policies and choice of Congress ally DMK’s ministerial berths.

Replying to a question of the responsibility of the government to protect privacy, Tata told NDTV’s Walk The Talk programme hosted by journalist Shekhar Gupta :”I totally agree, government also has a responsibility; the agencies also have a responsibility.”

“They have been given a special right to be able to invade people’s privacy for national security or for enforcement of law, whatever it may be. So they can do so. That additional power is a very special power which has to be exercised with a sense of responsibility,” he said.

“The content needs to be held for prosecution purposes and not to be misused, and certainly not to go out to have a field day with. There doesn’t seem to be prosecution on one end and there doesn’t seem to be confidentiality on the other,” he said.

“Perhaps as things will emerge, not even knowledge of how it was disseminated, nor admission of even having conducted such telephone tapping. So we are going to be in a dead man’s zone on this, which I think is unfortunate.

“Here I just want to put what you have said quite rightly in juxtaposition to feeling I have as an Indian, perhaps a law abiding Indian, I wouldn’t even try to work my way out of a speeding ticket,” he said.

“We have all to be proud of what we have done in India, we have got to be proud of our Prime Minister, we have got to be proud of the success we have. It’s terrible if we as a nation destroy ourselves and whoever is doing this kind of thing needs to consider themselves not as hero of the nation but in fact as one of the villains who would bring down this nation after the good that is being done,” he said.

“I wish the government would take a stand, bring an auditor… have an investigation and book people who are guilty of something, but stop this sort of Banana Republic kind of attack on whoever one chooses to attack on a basis unsubstantiated even before the person has a very Indian right – namely to be considered innocent until found guilty in a court of law,” he said.

Ratan Tata said: “I think if it’s not controlled, I think yes. I used the word Banana Republic, I did not use it lightly.”

“Banana republics are run on cronyism. People of great power wield great power, but people of lesser power or people who have fallen out of power go to jail without adequate evidence or their bodies are found in the trunks of cars.

“The danger is that you could degenerate into that kind of atmosphere unless the necessary parts of government play their role in upholding the law and fine, let no one be above the law,” he said.

He said never once the Tatas have done something to exploit a policy issue, “never once we used her (Radia) to make payments or to seek favours.”

He said the government should take over the tapes and restrain the media from indulging in character assassination.

Ratan Tata said a smokescreen is being framed to shadow the reality of the 2G scam, which is about allotment of specturm.

He said the media frenzy over the leakage of tapes featuring conversations between Niira Radia, the owner of a public relations agency, and prominent politicians, industrialists and journalists as a ?smokescreen? which was deflecting attention from bigger scandals.

Niira Radia, whose agency handles public relations for the Tata Group and Reliance Industries, has been questioned by the government agencies that are probing her alleged role in the award of a number of telecom licences in 2008.

The government?s chief auditor has said that these licences cost the exchequer Rs 1,76,000 crore because they were sold at prices set in 2001.

A Raja, who was the telecom minister when the permits were issued, was forced to step down earlier this month.

In the purported tapes, Vir Sanghvi allegedly was taking cue from Nira Radia to write against Anil Ambani of Reliance Group (telecom rival of the Tata group) in his weekly column in Hindustan Times while Barkha Dutt allegedly assured Radia to lobby with the Congress regarding portfolios of its ally DMK (which was holding telecom till A Raja was forced to resign over the 2G scam).

On Twitter and NDTV site, Barkha Dutt defending herself, said: “Amazed Angered and saddened at inability of some to distinguish between gathering info and ridiculous labels like lobbying/powerbroking.”

“Radia was a valid news source for DMK camp. She gave info on Karunanidhi, and sought my analysis on what Cong may do next. Valid journalism,” Dutt tweeted.