Supreme Court issues notices to government on Tata’s plea

NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court Thursday issued notices to the central government on a petition of Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group of Companies, seeking a ban on publication of transcripts of corporate lobbyist Nira Radia’s phone intercepts related to the 2G spectrum scam.

Tata’s plea pressed for the enforcement of his right to privacy by restraining the media from publishing conversations which were strictly personal in nature.

The court said that since the petitioner was seeking a blanket ban on the publication of the transcripts, it would have to hear Outlook and Open magazines - which have printed parts of the transcripts - as they might be affected by such an injunction order.

The court issued notices to the home ministry, the finance ministry, the director general of income tax department, and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and directed them to submit their replies within 10 days. The next hearing is slated for Dec 13.

Tata’s reputation was of a great value not only to him but also to the commercial organisation under the banner of the Tata Group of Companies, the apex court bench of Justice G.S.Singhvi and Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly was told by his counsel.

His petition said that any dent in the commercial standing of the Tata Groups companies, which are listed on the stock market, would hurt the interest of the investors who have stakes in these companies.

Appearing for Tata, senior counsel Harish Salve told the apex court that his client was not challenging the right of the statutory agencies to intercept and record the telephonic conversation.

But making those audio tapes public was certainly a matter of personal concern, he said.

Counsel said that all the information could be put in a filter so that conversations which are strictly personal in nature are not released in public domain.

Referring to a recent judgment of the apex court, Salve said the right to privacy and the right to information were two competing constitutional rights and there had to be a balance between the two.

Salve said the petitioner was not seeking injunction against media. In this country openness is must but it should not be allowed to sink into tabloid journalism, he said.

The senior counsel said that under the law once an officer is authorised to intercept phone calls, he has to keep records of what has been intercepted and how many copies of the same were made.

This he said in the context of a prayer seeking the fixing of responsibility for the selective leak of the Nira Radia tapes.