Following a directive from the Supreme Court, a six-member CBI and Income Tax team has begun examination of over 5800 tapes of tapped conversation of corporate lobbyist Nira Radia with politicians, corporate honchos and others.
The team, headed by a Deputy Inspector General, has started analysing the tapes and its transcripts running into 49 volumes.
While directing the CBI to constitute a team to look into the Radia tapes, a bench of Justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhaya of the apex court had on February 22 granted the agency four months time to submit its report.
The agency will scrutinise the tapes to ascertain if there were any elements of criminality in the conversations that were tapped by the Income Tax department. The probe will be limited to such conversations that pertain to criminal element and relating to interest of justice.
Contents of a few tapes that were first reported by The Pioneer triggered a political storm as some of the conversations highlighted the nature of corporate lobbying and its purported impact on policy making at the UPA-led Centre.
The Income Tax department has placed transcripts of 5,800 tapped telephone conversations in sealed envelopes. They were recorded as part of surveillance on Radia’s phone on a complaint to Finance Minister on November 16, 2007 alleging that within a span of nine years she had built up a business empire worth over Rs 300 crore.
The IT department had recorded 180 days of Radia’s conversations -- first from August 20, 2008 onwards for 60 days and then from October 19 for another 60 days. later, on May 11, 2009, her phone was again put on surveillance for another 60 days following a fresh order given on May 8.