New Delhi:
The Centre has filed a report in the Supreme Court saying that the Niira Radia tapes leaked last year by the media had been tampered with.
The Centre's report to the court was submitted today in sealed cover, but the judges read out some portions. The Centre's report claims that the "starting point and the end point of the conversation (in the tapes leaked) is different from the original". It has also said in the report that it was not involved in the leaking of the tapes.
The Centre also told the Supreme Court that it can't share the details of the probe.
Corporate lobbyist Niira Radia's phones were tapped in 2008 and 2009 for a tax investigation. Based on the conversations purportedly held between her and several prominent people, investigation agencies named her as a witness in the 2G case, with her conversations serving as the underpinnings of the telecom scam. Amid much controversy, these tapes were leaked last year.
Mr Radia, 51, is the owner and promoter of the Vaishnavi Group and at that time represented clients like Mukesh Ambani and Ratan Tata through her PR company. In October last year, she decided to exit from the communication consultancy business, citing "personal priorities" of family and health behind her "painful" decision to quit the PR business.
Industrialist Ratan Tata had filed a petition in the Supreme Court in November last year seeking that the Centre inquire into the leak of the Niira Radia tapes and take action accordingly. The phone transcripts made public reportedly include intercepts of Mr Tata's conversations with Ms Radia, and Mr Tata pleaded that his right to privacy had been affected and that the broadcast and publication of the transcripts must be stopped.