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"The Supreme Court will take up on Tuesday Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata's plea on the right to privacy after the leakage of his telephonic conversations with corporate lobbyist Niira Radia tapped by the Income Tax Department. A bench headed by Justices G S Singhvi will examine the issues raised by Tata, including the questions of right to privacy and right to freedom of speech and expression as envisaged under the Constitution. Tata, in his petition, has said that several parts of the conversations were purely private in nature which were spoken casually and could not be taken seriously. He pleaded the online portals and the news media should be restrained from making his conversations public. "

"The Supreme Court on Tuesday indicated that its order gagging the media from publishing and telecasting the tapped conversation of former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh with top political leaders and Bollywood stars may be lifted. "We don't have to vacate the injunction as there is nothing surviving in your petition since it was done on forged documents," observed a Bench comprising Justice G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly. "Your incursion of privacy is established but your cure lies against Reliance which intercepted your calls. You have other remedy." "

Industrialist Ratan Tata on Thursday accused the government of adopting a "lackadaisical" manner in protecting the right to privacy, citing his case as an apt example. "Today my concern is that government is not giving serious consideration and attention to the issue. There may be other CDs which can be leaked and brought into public domain. There is a lackadaisical approach on the part of the government," senior Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Tata in the Supreme Court, contended. Tata's concerns prompted the Bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly to remark that though the government " have the right to tap but they also have the duty to protect it and ensure that it is not leaked". "They have to safeguard it (the tapes) effectively. In the fast-changing time and developing technology, privacy is virtually disappearing and is being diluted," the court observed.

In a setback to veteran Congress leader and former governor of Andhra Pradesh N D Tiwari, the Supreme Court on Monday held that he has to undergo DNA test in a paternity case. However, it maintained that the test findings would not be made public until it is required to do so. A Bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and R M Lodha refused to stay the Delhi High Court order asking the 85-year-old leader to undergo DNA test and directed him to suggest by Friday the procedure preferred by him for the DNA test. Tiwari who has held the post of chief minister of undivided Uttar Pradesh and later of Uttarakhand contended that it would be a violation of his Right to Privacy and would cause him public humiliation if he is directed to undergo the DNA test.