Radia tapes to be examined for law violation

New Delhi, Feb 21: The Supreme Court on Thursday set up a six-member team to scan the transcripts of former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia's telephone intercepts to determine if there was any conversation that violated the law and warranted prosecution and asked it to submit its report in four months.

The apex court bench headed by Justice GS Singhvi said "the team will have five officers from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and one from Income Tax department". The six-member team will work under the supervision of two senior officers of the CBI.

The intercepts of Radia's telephones led to the unearthing of the 2G scam.

The six-member team in turn will be supervised by a Superintendent of Police (SP) rank official and the entire set would be under a deputy inspector general of the premier investigative agency, the court said.

The court gave the CBI four months' time to complete the analysis of the Radia tapes and submit its report to it.

Radia and her associates' phones were put under surveillance by the Income Tax department after the home ministry received an anonymous letter alleging her foreign connections and her spectacular rise in a short span of a few years.

Following the letter, the Income Tax department was asked to investigate the matter.

IANS