Ashutosh asks PM Modi to make Essar tapes public

 Accusing the BJP of skirting a major issue, AAP spokesperson Ashutosh said it was more important than the Nira Radia tape controversy, in which the names of senior bureaucrats, journalists and politicians, including former Telecom Minister A Raja, had surfaced. He has urged the PM to order a proper investigation into the matter and make the tapes public.

Ashutosh asked PM Modi what was stopping him from undertaking a proper investigation into the matter and whom was he protecting? "It shows how the systems have been manipulated," he added.

The Essar tapes contain telephonic conversations of top businessmen, former Cabinet ministers and high-profile bureaucrats between 2001 and 2006. The allegations of tapping were made in a 29-page complaint, submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office by a Supreme Court lawyer Suren Uppal, who claims to represent a former Essar employee accused of tapping phones.

According to Uppal, among those whose conversations have allegedly been tapped are –Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, former Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, UP Governor Ram Naik, RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani, ADAG group chairman Anil Ambani and his wife Tina Ambani; late Cabinet minister Pramod Mahajan and Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh.

The Essar tapes' report was sent to the PMO on June 1, 2016. Ashutosh said the matter was taken to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in March this year. He said at that time the PM had assured of unearthing the truth, but a probe is yet to be ordered.