2G scam: Government told to deposit Radia tapes in Supreme Court

NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Central Government to deposit the original recoding of conversations between corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and others in connection with the 2G scam with it.

“We direct that the original records be submitted in a sealed cover after preparing the copies,” said a two judge bench of the apex court, comprising Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly.

The direction came after government submitted that it had no objection to handing over the complete set of tapes following apprehensions that the tapes might be destroyed.

Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium said he has got instructions that there was no objection to handing over the tapes, and that the court could give direction for preserving them in whatever way it thinks best.

The apex court had on Tuesday asked the government to respond to the plea for preserving the tapes containing the conversation between Radia and others relating to the 2G 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).

Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had questioned Radia for her alleged role in the scam.

Radia was summoned after the tapes exposed how she allegedly lobbied with senior journalists and telecom companies in the 2G-spectrum scam.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had in an affidavit said to the Supreme Court that the role of Radia would be examined in the 2G-spectrum allocation case in which irregularities were of ‘enormous magnitude’ having international ramifications. (ANI)