‘Radia tapes not restricted to 2G’

The tapped conversations of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia with influential persons were not restricted to the allocation of 2G spectrum but involved many other spheres, including national security and recruitment of members in the Railway Board, the Supreme Court said on Friday. “On the aspect of the security of the nation, the report is hazy but extremely serious and needs thorough scrutiny of the call details... They are throwing light on different aspects. Our perception was that everything was related to spectrum, etc. but it is far more wide and different altogether. There is serious cloud on some of the issues,” observed a bench of justices G.S. Singhvi and V. Gopal Gowda. The bench also said that “the recent issue concerning the Railway Board member” also comes to light on scrutiny of the intercepted conversations of Radia. The observations were made after perusing confidential reports prepared by a 10-member committee which said the scrutiny of transcripts of Radia’s conversations with politicians, corporate executives, journalists and others reflect the issues concerning national security and appointments of members in Railway Board. Pointing to the involvement of large sums of money in lobbying, the bench observed, “actually money is paid”, adding that the issues involved are “extremely serious”. It, however, cautioned that “there should not be one-sided view” and there should be a thorough probe supported by evidence. “On national security, you (CBI) have to be very cautious which we pointed out. Till something is found, it should not become a matter of speculation because it harms the national interest. The agencies involved must be given enough time to completely look into the matter,” the bench said. “We will give enough time to scrutinise the entire tape either by same team or whatever team you choose or by the initial team of the income-tax department which intercepted Radia’s conversation,” the bench said. It decided to hear the matter again on October 8.