UPA Govt. May Not Have A Case Against Nira Radia ...

Hasty to call Nira Radia a spy. Thus spake Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister. The phone tapping was started precisely for that reason – spying.  If Pranab Mukherjee, the man in the middle of everything could say that, one can safely assume the complaint to the then Finance Minster, P. Chidambaram, on the basis of which the phone tapping commenced might as well be fabricated. Else, Chidambaram can and should reveal who the complainant was. That is neither a matter of national secrecy nor a matter of grave danger. I wonder if the complaint was signed by anyone or was an anonymous one.

In the affidavit filed with the Supreme Court  the UPA government has stated: “Ms. Radia had within a short span of 9 years built up a business empire worth 300 crores, that she was an agent of foreign intelligence agencies and that she was indulging in anti-national activities”.  Let’s see, Rahul Gandhi, the clown-prince, had assets worth 22 lakhs in 2004 and 2.25 crores in 2009. On his known income, isn’t that a big leap? Subrata Roy Sahara’s business group grew from Rs.1500/- ($43) in 1978 to over billions of dollars in just over two decades. Isn’t that a big leap? In comparison, Radia’s growth doesn’t seem all that spectacular considering she was the PR agent for some big business groups. As for being anti-national, Subramanian Swamy has frequently accused Sonia Gandhi of being anti-national and of having received money from the KGB.  And that, is in the public domain. Where are the inquiries on Rahul, Sahara and Sonia?

It shouldn’t fool any one in the least that the spy here may not be Nira Radia at all. The spies here appear to be obviously the ministers or departments of the UPA government.  I have repeatedly emphasised that P. Chidambaram has to come clean on the phone tapping and selective leaks.  We have to wonder if the UPA government IS the spy. And  if so, what or who all were they spying on?

On another note, it is frivolous for the Union Home Secretary or a State Home Secretary to have the authority to sanction surveillance. Such officers are usually ones that do the bidding of the political party in power or the ministers in charge. No one less than a High Court judge should authorise such surveillance. It took the CBI over a year to raid the homes/offices of A. Raja and other officials in the telecom case.  Why wasn’t Nira Radia ever raided or questioned till recently? Following the complaint against her and the phone tapping, was nothing incriminating found in the first month itself? Why phone-tapping over a two year period?

It is extremely probable that the phone tapping was initiated and meant to be used by the Congress to embarrass, expose or even blackmail some businessmen, media-persons and political allies or enemies.  It seems more and more likely that the government may have no real case against Nira Radia. The exposures are welcome, but the motives remain suspect. Will the media now push Chidambaram for facts?

Radia Tapes Leak: Needle Of Suspicion Closer To Chidambaram?

Home Secretary G.K. Pillai has said that the leaked Radia tapes  just had "juicy elements" to "titillate" the media. The real details on the spectrum scam, he said, are in the remaining 5,000-plus recordings that haven't yet come out will assist investigators. All this in an interview with the Washington Street Journal on December 6. Thus, it would appear that the tapes that were released, involving journalists and businessmen, didn’t reveal anything concerning the real investigations. So why were those leaked? And who did? Pillai then went on to say  “Everything will come out. Then you can pick and choose”.

Following his interview and other reports that he may be somehow involved in the leakage of the tapes Pillai denied the suggestions and stated “Since I have neither heard nor seen the tapes, the allegations that I am leaking these tapes, at the behest of the Home Minister, is totally unfounded and false”. As I stated in another post, if the government denies something, it must be true. Is it so in this case?

Deepak Parekh, of HDFC, in an interview to Shekhar Gupta stated “You can’t have telephones tapped for two years...even if it’s a crook, does it take you two years?...You arrest that individual, you question that individual”. That sounds like simple common sense which seems quite elusive to our investigating agencies. As if the Congress stooges weren’t already a laughing stock, the CBI now raids A. Raja and others after allowing them a long time to wipe their footprints.

In a previous post I had suggested that ‘Chidambaram must come clean’ on the Radia tapes. It should be anybody’s guess that the probe or investigation or inquiry that the Home Minister keeps referring to is hardly likely to reveal who leaked the tapes. Welcome as the leaks were, it is clear that they were leaked to expose certain journalists and businessmen. It reeks of vendetta and a political one at that. Now who could possibly have a motive to do that? It seems unlikely for a ‘babu’ or some lower level official or some investigator to have the motives. 

Therefore, the leak has to come or should have been orchestrated at the very highest level. The one person who handled the two key ministries of Finance and Home during the period of phone tapping is Mr. P. Chidambaram. And having collectively plunged the nation into a sorry mess, the Congress (I) moralises on corruption. Their foul-mouthed spokesman, Manish Tiwari, calls the opposition ‘maoists and naxals’ for blockading the parliament. I for one don’t give a damn about the parliament right now. Parliament can wait. The JPC should be constituted and the first priority for the country has to be recovering black money and the scam money. The PM is very concerned about the ‘future’ of the parliament. If this man had not silently presided over the biggest scam in the country and some more, then the country would not be in this situation.

I had quoted her earlier and do so again. Mobina Gupta writes at Kafila.Org: "One of the anecdotes doing the rounds among journalists at the moment goes like this: A certain politician-unfriendly journalist asks P Chidambaram whether the Congress is embarrassed by the SC’s observation about the PM’s inaction on the A Raja corruption issue. Chidambaram quips back: Are you in the media embarrassed about the tapes?" 

If Chidambaram does not come clean on the tapes and the leaks, the needle of suspicion will get closer to him each day. The media has the chance to put all the pressure on this man to come clean. One hopes they will not let him off the hook,  now that they have learnt their lessons.