Radia tapes: Supreme Court defers hearing of Tata’s plea

The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred hearing of Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata’s plea on violation of his right to privacy after the leakage of his telephonic conversations with corporate lobbyist Niira Radia tapped by the Income Tax Department.

A bench headed by Justice G.S. Singhvi adjourned the hearing on his plea seeking to restrain the online portals and the news media from making his conversations public.

The court had on December 2 last issued notices to the Centre and news magazines ‘Open’ and ‘Outlook’ which had published some portions of the transcripts of Ms. Radia’s conversations with several people including Tata.

The bench had also issued notices to the Union Home Secretary, CBI, the Income Tax Department and the Finance Ministry.

Tata, in his petition, has said that several parts of the conversations were purely private in nature which were spoken casually and could not be taken seriously. He pleaded the online portals and the news media should be restrained from making his conversations public.

Tata has also sought action against those involved in the leaking of the tapes, saying such an act amounts to infringement of his fundamental right to life, which includes his right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution.