Ratan Tata not interested in damages from publication of Radia tapes

Tata group chairman Ratan Tata said he would be satisfied if the Supreme Court indicted the union government for failing to protect his right to privacy which led to the controversial Radia tapes reaching unauthorised hands and their contents getting published.

Over 20 months following his moving court, seeking protection of his right to privacy as also a CBI inquiry to nail those who leaked official telephone intercepts of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia including conversations featuring him, seniour counsel for Tata, advocate Mukul Rohatgi said his client was not interested in seeking damages against the publications, which printed the contents of certain intercepts.

Rohatgi submitted before a bench of justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhay that Tata was entitled to know the contents of the two inquiry reports one by senior officers of the income tax department and the second by an inter-ministerial committee featuring officers from ministries of telecom, finance and home. According to both reports, there had been no leak from the official agencies, which pointed the needle of suspicion to the service provider.

Additional solicitor general Indira Jaising claiming privilege over the contents of the report, said government was willing to show it only to the court. She added, "the inter-ministerial report is available and the government is ready to show it to the court but not to the other side."

Tata's counsel said, "I am the petitioner whose right to privacy is breached. Am I not entitled to know whether it was leaked by the government? I will be satisfied if the court says they were remiss in their duty and that the tapes should not have reached unauthorised hands. Also there should be some guidelines to protect the right to privacy of private individuals. I am not interested in damages."

The government meanwhile filed a report today in the Supreme Court saying that it had been unable to find the source that leaked the tapes containing conversation between corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and others including Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata.

''In a nutshell, the report says it is difficult to find by which source it was leaked,'' a bench comprising justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhaya said, after perusal of the report filed in a sealed envelope.

The bench added, ''Regarding the source which leaked the tapes, they have been unable to find it.''