SC orders CBI probe of Radia tapes revelations

The Supreme Court Thursday ordered a CBI probe into the dimensions of criminality that have emerged from the tapes of former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia.

A bench headed by Justice G.S. Singhvi ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe issues that were identified by the investigating agency after going through the transcript of the Radia tapes submitted to it by the Income Tax Department.

The court has also referred one of the matters to the chief vigilance officer of the department of mines for investigation, while one has been referred to the chief justice of India.

Asking the investigating agency to probe into six issues identified by the six member team that had perused the transcripts, the court said: "Prima facie there is a deep rooted malice by private enterprises in connivance with government officials for extraneous purposes."

The investigating agency has been asked to submit its probe report to the court by Dec 16.

The criminality dimensions in the Radia tapes surfaced after the transcripts were perused by a team of six officers - five belonging to CBI and to the Income Tax Department. The team was set up by the apex court by its Feb 21, 2013, order.

The CBI had July 31 told the court that there was an element of criminality in the conversations which Radia had with several people, including journalists, in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

The apex court had said that some aspects of the Radia tapes were "uncomfortable".

"The CBI has drawn several conclusions and tentative inferences highlighting many things in this meticulous transcript. Many things are uncomfortable in it," it said.

On Aug 29, the apex court held an in-camera hearing on the report of the six members committee that pointed to criminality dimensions emerging from the Radia tapes.