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The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday lifted its gag order on the media that restrained the latter from broadcasting and publishing former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh's taped conversations with top politicians and Bollywood stars. File photo of Amar Singh (Pic: BCCL) A two-judge bench comprising Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly dismissed Amar Singh's petition to prevent the broadcasting and publishing of his taped conversations, and vacated its interim order passed on February 27, 2006 restraining the media from making contents of the conversation public.

Industrialist Ratan Tata has questioned in the Supreme Court the lackadaisical attitude of the Centre in allowing free distribution and publication of his private conversations with lobbyist Nira Radia recorded by the Directorate General of Income Tax without taking any steps to retrieve the stored material or to find out the source of leakage. Mr. Tata, who filed a writ petition alleging that the publication of the tapes had infringed his right to privacy, in his supplementary affidavit said that the power of the law enforcement agencies to record telephone conversations itself "constitutes a serious encroachment upon the right of privacy guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution." He made it clear that the present petition was not designed to somehow keep back from publication any conversation to which he allegedly was a party for any oblique purpose. It was filed to seek redress of a wholesale violation of the constitutional rights of a large number of persons, including the petitioner and including a host of corporate entities by the indiscriminate publication of wiretrap material procured by questionable means.

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre on a writ petition for a direction to the Centre to release all 5,800 conversations of Niira Radia tapped by government agencies. A Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and S.S. Nijjar was hearing the petition filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation and posted the matter for further hearing on February 2, along with the petition filed by industrialist Ratan Tata on the same issue. The CPIL also wanted the court "to frame guidelines that protect public whistle-blowers." The petitioner said: "Public interest requires that the conversations in the Radia tapes be brought into the public domain so that the citizens' right to know is effectuated by informing them how every aspect of their government as well as institutions such as the media, are being subverted.

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre and the Telecom Ministry on a petition for a direction to frame guidelines for telephone tapping without infringing on the right to privacy of citizens. A Bench of Justice G. S. Singhvi and Justice A. K. Ganguly issued notice on the public interest litigation petition filed by advocate Ravinder Kumar, seeking direction that interceptions which were purely private in nature should be kept out of the ambit of tapping. The Bench directed the matter to be tagged with the petition filed by industrialist Ratan Tata, which alleged that publication of his private conversations with corporate lobbyist Nira Radia tapes had infringed his right to privacy.

"Worried about the negative impact of the leakage of intercepted conversations, the Centre has begun working on codifying privacy laws in the country. The new law will frame rules for monitoring phone and the Internet and for providing a redressal mechanism in case of breach of privacy. "

If Mr Ratan Tata, Ms Barkha Dutt, Mr Vir Singhvi and others who figured in Radia tapes and Ms Niira Radia herself feel defamed by these revelations, they can test their right to reputation by suing the publishers. Certainly they do not have Article 21 protection here. That right is available for victims of crime but not to criminals or their helpers.

NEW DELHI: Responding to concerns about breach of privacy due to intercepted phone calls being made public, government told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that it has taken steps to devise ways to destroy taped conversations that are private

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.

"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. "