New Delhi:
The Supreme Court has pulled up the government today for not producing the original documents in the Niira Radia phone tapping case. The court has asked the government what action it has taken against Ms Radia after tapping her phone. It has directed the government to file a status report on the issue.
The court's observation comes a day after it said the report submitted by the government, on how taped conversations of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia were leaked, was unsatisfactory. On Tuesday, the court pulled up the government for not putting in place a mechanism to prevent such leaks. These observations came after the central government rejected the allegation that the tapes were leaked from its side.
The court asked, "The moment you say leakage is not from your side, from where it has taken place? Who is responsible? Your report is hardly satisfactory."
On August 22, industrialist Ratan Tata had asked the Supreme Court for a copy of the report submitted by the government explaining how the Radia tapes were leaked. Mr Tata's conversations with corporate Ms Radia were among those carried by some magazines and their websites in 2010. Mr Tata then took the government to court arguing that the release of the tapes amounts to infringement of his right to privacy.
The government gave its version of how the tapes ended up in the public domain in a report shared with the court nine months ago.
Ms Radia's phones were tapped between 2008-2009, allegedly by the Income Tax department, as part of an investigation into companies suspected of possible money laundering and tax evasion.
(With inputs from PTI)