New Delhi:
Industrialist Ratan Tata has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking that the Centre inquire into the leak of the Nira Radia tapes and take action accordingly.
The phone transcripts are part of an investigation and have been made public. These include intercepts of Tata's conversations with Public Relations (PR) representative Niira Radia, who handles corporate communication for the Tata Group. Ratan Tata is the Chairman of the Tata Group of Companies.
Tata's petition says that his right to privacy has been affected and that the broadcast and publication of the transcript must be stopped.
The petition says that it is not against any inquiry by investigating agencies. But, it says, the taped conversation is for purpose of investigation and cannot be used for "public purpose."
Speaking to Shekhar Gupta on NDTV's Walk the Talk programme, Ratan Tata had recently said that government agencies have special powers to invade people's privacy, but with that special power, come special responsibilities.
He also asserted that the Tata Group never subverted any policy through Radia. "Never once have we done something to exploit a policy issue, never once we used her (Radia) to make payments or to seek favours," he said, adding that the government should take over the tapes and restrain the media from indulging in character assassination.