Tag: Right to Information Act

The Radia tapes controversy relates to the taped and released telephonic conversations between Nira (also Niira) Radia, a professional lobbyist and politicians, corporates and industrialists, officials, bureaucrats, aides and journalists that were taped by the Indian Income Tax Department in 2008-09. The tapes led to government and public accusation that these calls documented planning of the 2G spectrum scam, along with other criminal and unconstitutional malpractices. Nira Radia runs a public relations firm named Vaishnavi Corporate Communications and also operates through subsidiaries such as Neucom, Noesis Strategic Consulting Services and Vitcom Consulting whose clients, among others, include Ratan Tata’s Tata Group,Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries and Prannoy Roy’s NDTV.

After getting authorization from the Home Ministry, the Indian Income Tax department tapped Radia’s phone lines for 300 days in 2008-2009, as part of it’s investigations into alleged large scale money laundering, tax evasion and financial malpractices by Niira Radia.

A Hindi web portal Bhadas4media took up this story as early as May 2010 when on 07 May 2010, the first article was published. and requests for information under the Right to Information Act’

In November 2010, OPEN magazine carried a story which reported transcripts of some of the telephone conversations of Niira Radia with senior journalists, politicians, and corporate houses, many of whom have denied the allegations. The Central Bureau of Investigation has announced that they have 8000 recordings of phone conversations by Radia in relation to the 2G spectrum sale.

In the recorded conversations between Nira Radia and prominent figures, several prominent figures are heard in conversation with Radia:

http://results-2010.com/tag/nira-radia-tapes-profile

Related:

The investigation part is much more, which has not yet come out,” Pillai said. “The parts that have come out aren’t really connected to the investigation.”

The leaked tapes raised questions about media ethics based on conversations between prominent mediapersons and political powerbrokers on the formation of the Cabinet last year, the feud between the Ambani brothers and the controversial allocation of 2G mobile phone spectrum in 2008.

Pillai said the government is closely scrutinizing potentially illegal movement of funds in and out of India. But he did not throw light on the persons being probed or the likely charges against them.

The Central Bureau of Investigation handed over taped conversations of Radia, trying to secure tax concessions and manage favours for top industrialists, to the Supreme Court.

The CBI has said in an affidavit that it would complete the 2G spectrum probe by March 2011, and that it is examining transcripts relating to Radia’s phone calls and documents. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) grilled Radia for more than eight hours in November.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/brace-for-taxgate-not-radiagate/136690-3.html?from=tn