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Supreme
Court issues notices to government on Tata's plea
Thursday December 02, 2010 07:26:11 PM ,
IANS
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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 Group's 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.
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