Supreme Court directs IT Department to transcribe tapped conversation of Niira Radia

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today directed the income tax (IT) department, which had intercepted 5,800 telephone conversations of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia, to get them transcribed within two months for a proper probe as some of them concern national security.

The court was annoyed that in such a "serious matter" the IT department has not prepared the transcript of all the intercepted calls, some of which relate to "dubious" fiscal transactions having impact on national security.

A Bench of justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya expressed unhappiness over the fact the probe into the incident was moving on the basis of the "analysis" of the transcript provided by the income tax department to the CBI.

When Additional Solicitor General Haren Raval made it clear that the transcript of the entire 5,800 intercepted conversations of Radia was not done, the bench said "it will be appropriate that conversation should be transcribed. Otherwise everything will proceed on the basis of surmises and conjectures."

The court directed the Directorate General of Income Tax (Investigation), who had ordered the tapping of phones of Radia and constituted a team of officers for the job, to get the conversation transcribed and submit complete compilation of conversation within two months in a sealed cover," the bench said.

The bench passed the order after going through the summary of the probe provided by the Government and the fresh status reports into the investigation filed in sealed covers by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate.