Radia tapes blame game reaches PM

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has stepped in the blame game between home ministry and income tax (I-T) department officials over who leaked the “Radia tapes” to the media.

Mukherjee has told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh how top home ministry officials briefed a section of the media that senior I-T officials were most likely involved in facilitating the leak of conversations tapped by the department in connection with its investigation into the 2G scam.

The home ministry and the finance ministry officials, separately, have been entrusted with the task of finding from where the leak happened. Recent media reports had indicated the tapes were leaked from the I-T department and involved top officials.

A senior I-T department official, however, told Business Standard that according to the finance ministry’s findings, the conversations that came in the public domain didn’t match the ones available with the I-T department. “There is no question of a leak from the I-T department,” he added.

After Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata objected to the way conversations between him and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia came in the public domain, the Supreme Court had asked the government for a report on who was responsible for the leak. Tata contended the leak of the tapes infringed his fundamental right to life, which included a right to privacy.

The tapes have recorded conversations between Radia and various businessmen, politicians and journalists.

The I-T department had tapped Radia’s telephonic conversations in connection with its investigation into the 2G scam. The recordings were subsequently passed on to other investigating agencies, including the Central Bureau of Investigation.