Leaked Radia tapes doctored, government tells SC

The central government Tuesday told the Supreme Court that the versions published in the media of the controversial conversations of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia did not match the original tapes.

The court was told this in a report given in a sealed cover in the course of the hearing of a petition by industrialist Ratan Tata, who contended that though his phone was not tapped his privacy was violated because his conversations with Radia were recorded.

Going through the report, the apex court bench, headed by Justice G.S. Singhvi, observed that the conversations might have been edited. The report submitted by the union home ministry said there were discrepancies in the length of the tapes and the nature of the conversations. The government also denied that the taped conversations were leaked by any of its agencies.