Centre may seek CBI probe in the VIP phone-tapping case

NEW DELHI: The government may seek a CBI investigation in the VVIP phone-tapping case involving the Essar group, which is accused of illegally monitoring phone conversations

NEW DELHI: The government may seek a CBI investigation in the VVIP phone-tapping case involving the Essar group, which is accused of illegally monitoring phone conversations of top ministers, industrialists and bureaucrats. The prime minister’s office (PMO) has asked the Union home ministry (MHA) to take “necessary action” in the case.

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“There are conversations to probe. The characters involved may have to be summoned for questioning. The CBI may be asked to conduct a preliminary inquiry to see if there is violation of the telegraph Act (illegal tapping) or official secrets Act (recording of conversations of government officials). The CBI may proceed further in accordance with the conclusions drawn in its preliminary probe,” said a senior government official familiar with initial deliberations on the matter.

The other option, sources said, would be to ask the Delhi Police, which reports to the Union home ministry, to conduct a probe. The MHA is likely to take a call on Monday, said a ministry official.

The moves comes after Delhi lawyer Suren Uppal recently submitted a 29-page report to the PMO alleging Essar had tapped the phones of cabinet ministers, top industrialists and senior bureaucrats between 2001 and 2006. “The file has been sent to the appropriate ministry, in this case the home ministry, for necessary action,” PMO sources told HT on Sunday.

Tapping of phones by private entities is illegal and the ministry will first try to find out who was involved in carrying out the illegal surveillance, the sources said.

Denying it “conducted or authorised any person… to conduct phone surveillance”, Essar said in a statement, “Mr Uppal has concocted a false and baseless story involving us to make extortionist demands from us in the name of an ex-employee. When made to realise we have no interest in acceding to such illegal demands, he is now looking to defame us by using the media. We intend to proceed against him to the full extent of the law unless he tenders a public apology and unconditionally withdraws these baseless allegations.”

A spokesperson for Reliance group, whose top leadership was reportedly under the illegal surveillance, said Sunday, “Conversations attributed to us are false and appear doctored by someone who seeks to defame us… We expect the authorities to take a serious view of these alleged violations of our right to privacy, if indeed there has been illegal wire tapping. We also expect the authorities to verify the truth of these allegations and take action against these malicious falsehoods.”

The Congress had been demanding t o know if t he government has ordered an inquiry. “Is it a fact that a complaint was submitted to your office? Has the PM ordered an inquiry? If an inquiry has been ordered, when was it ordered? And if it was not, why was it not ordered, as serious allegations have been made,” asked spokesperson Manish Tewari on Saturday.

The opposition party alleged the first NDA government could have been “completely and absolutely compromised” as the phones of many of its bureaucrats and ministers were allegedly tapped by the corporate.