SC serves notice to Centre on Niira Radia tapes

The Supreme Court on Monday served a notice to the Union Government on a plea seeking details of phone-talks of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia.

The demand for disclosure of the talks, taped by government agencies, however, did not call for that of private nature.

The SC bench, comprising justices G S Singhvi and S S Nijjar, after ordering the issuance of the notice to the Centre, adjourned the matter until Feb 2.

The bench passed the order following a petition moved by an NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation.

The CPIL has pleaded for disclosure of the entire 5,800 conversations Radia had with different people, including ministers, journalists and corporate bosses, saying that it was in public interest to disclose the contents as it might reveal corruption in different government departments.

The petition pleaded that keeping the Radia tapes secret would amount to not telling people how the high and mighty conspired to play a fraud on the nation in the irregular allocation of 2G spectrum.

The government had taped Radia’s telephonic conversation following a complaint to the finance ministry that she had been allegedly indulging in anti-national activities.