Industrialist Mr Ratan Tata on Monday confirmed to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that he had in November 2007 written a letter to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi, praising the then Communications and IT Minister, Mr A Raja.
In his three-hour deposition before the PAC at the Parliament House complex, the Tata Sons Chairman also admitted that it was his voice in the so-called ‘Radia tapes', which became controversial as it among other things raised allegations of corporate bigwigs through their lobbyists trying to influence portfolio allocations for Cabinet ministers of the UPA-II Government.
In the conversations, corporate lobbyist Ms Niira Radia is allegedly heard making efforts to ensure that Mr Raja gets the Telecom Portfolio in the UPA-II Government.
In a handwritten letter to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister in November 2007, Mr Tata had praised Mr Raja for his “rational, fair and action-oriented” leadership. On the issue of spectrum, Mr Tata said that Mr Raja's policies were “legally sound, rational and well reasoned”. However, Mr Karunanidhi had in February this year denied receiving such a letter from Mr Tata.
Meanwhile, briefing media persons after today's marathon meeting, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, Chairman of the PAC, said that Mr Tata was candid in his response to the questions posed by the Parliamentary Committee. “He confirmed his handwritten letter to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Mr Tata also said that it was his voice in the tapes (taped conversations),” Dr Joshi said.
At the same time, Dr Joshi was quick to point out that anybody being candid did not mean that he was right; whatever was said by Mr Tata needed to be corroborated with the investigations.
The PAC put forth to the industrialist all questions that emanated from the ‘Radia Tapes' including whether Mr Tata and Ms Radia had a role in ensuring that Mr Raja got the Telecom portfolio. Dr Joshi however declined to specify the responses given by Mr Tata citing confidentiality of the PAC proceedings.
Although the ‘Radia Tapes' did not have direct linkage to the 2G spectrum allocation scam of 2008, it showed some corporate houses in poor light as they allegedly tried to influence selection and portfolios of Cabinet Ministers.
Even as Mr Tata confirmed his letter to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, sources in the PAC said that the members wanted to know why he had not written such a letter to the Prime Minister if the objective was to laud the policies of the then Telecom Minister.
On whether the PAC discussed with Mr Tata the correctness of the 2G spectrum allocation policy, Dr Joshi replied in the negative. “We don't discuss policies in our meetings. We discuss the implementation of policies,” Dr Joshi said.
RADIA ‘EVASIVE'
Earlier in the day, corporate lobbyist and Vaishnavi Communications head, Ms Niira Radia, had deposed before the PAC for over two hours. But Dr Joshi later said that Ms Radia was “evasive” to most of the questions put forth to her. Ms Radia is learnt to have told the PAC that some of the so called ‘Radia Tapes' may be doctored.
When quizzed about the CBI inquiry and her being a witness, Ms Radia is understood to have admitted that it was her voice in the tapes played by the investigating agency. Dr Joshi said that PAC has now asked her to give the list of genuine tapes.
On Tuesday, the PAC plans to quiz the Reliance Communications Chairman, Mr Anil Ambani, the Etisalat DB Telecom CEO, Mr Atul Jhamb, the STel CEO, Mr Shamik Das, and the Unitech Wireless Managing Director, Mr Sigve Brekke.