The government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it has not been able to track the source of the leaked tapes containing telephonic conversation of the former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia with the Tata group chairperson Ratan Tata and others. The government said that it was difficult to track the source which leaked the tapes which were recorded by the Income Tax Department.
The government said so in a confidential inquiry report in a sealed cover before a bench of the justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya.
'In a nutshell, the report says it is difficult to find by which source it was leaked,' the bench said after perusing the report. The bench further said, 'Regarding the source which leaked the tapes, they have been unable to find it.'
The bench also said that the government had stated in the report that as per the rules all the tapes which were in its possession had now been destroyed after placing the original copy before the Supreme Court.
The development was termed very surprising by the advocate Prashant Bhushan, who is seeking disclosure of the entire conversation in the tapes. Seeking disclosure of the entire tapped conversation of Radia, Bhushan submitted that it was in public interest that people were told what went behind the curtains.
The government said so in a confidential inquiry report in a sealed cover before a bench of the justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya.
'In a nutshell, the report says it is difficult to find by which source it was leaked,' the bench said after perusing the report. The bench further said, 'Regarding the source which leaked the tapes, they have been unable to find it.'
The bench also said that the government had stated in the report that as per the rules all the tapes which were in its possession had now been destroyed after placing the original copy before the Supreme Court.
The development was termed very surprising by the advocate Prashant Bhushan, who is seeking disclosure of the entire conversation in the tapes. Seeking disclosure of the entire tapped conversation of Radia, Bhushan submitted that it was in public interest that people were told what went behind the curtains.