New Delhi: Supreme Court Wednesday directed
that the original tapes containing the conversation between
corporate lobbyist Nira Radia and others pertaining to the 2G
spectrum allocation case be handed over to it in a sealed
cover.
"We direct that the original records and tapes/ CDs be
submitted in a sealed cover after preparing the copies. It
will be kept in the lockers of the Supreme Court registry and
if required, it will be considered for its use," the court
said.
The direction came from a bench comprising justices G
S Singhvi and A K Ganguly after government submitted that it
has no objection in handing over the complete set of tapes in
the wake of apprehensions that the tapes may be destroyed.
Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium said that he has
got instructions that there was no objection in handing over
the tapes and the court can give direction for preserving them
in whatever way it thinks best.
The apex court had yesterday asked the government to
respond to the plea for preserving the tapes containing
conversation between Radia and others relating to the 2G
spectrum scam.
The bench had asked the Solicitor General to take
instructions from the authorities on the plea made by NGO
Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL).
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who had appeared for the
NGO, had made the plea that the tapes prepared by the Director
General of Income Tax containing conversation of Radia and
others should be preserved while voicing apprehensions that
the tapes may be tampered with.
While hearing the issue yesterday, the court had
described the "pollution" as "mind-boggling".
Bhushan spoke about the nexus between politicians,
bureaucrats, industrialists and journalists as "exposed" in
the tapes.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, December 01, 2010, 12:03