HCL gives more details in UK phone-hacking case

LONDON: In the latest twist to the phone-hacking case, Indian IT major HCL Technologies has said that it was asked to delete thousands of emails of Rupert Murdoch's News International (NI) on four more occasions than had been previously disclosed.

Responding to the latest disclosure by HCL, Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: "The request for deletion of folders and emails by News International is concerning".

"The Committee will continue to investigate the issue of phone hacking and the removal of any information that could possibly point to the prevalence of phone hacking by those working in the organisation," the Indian-origin lawmaker said.

In a letter to Vaz, the legal company acting on behalf of HCL outlined four separate occasions when News International requested deletion of folders and emails between December 2009 and June 2011.

These include emails from an inbox of a user who has not accessed his email account for eight years and the removal of a personal folder.

In its earlier communication to the committee probing the phone-hacking issue, HCL said on August 1 insisted that it did not store News International's emails and thus could not be responsible for their deletions, but went on to cite nine instances of email deletions between April 2010 and July 2011.

The latest revelations come after the company conducted further searches.

The letter to Vaz said: "You will recollect from my earlier letter my concern that the very short time frame given by you to HCL for its initial response did not permit a more comprehensive search".