ANALYSIS

The Essar Tapes, which have brought to light several incriminating conversations between corporate executives, politicians, bureaucrats and bankers, among others, have invited comparisons with the Niira Radia Tapes, which ‘Outlook’ exposed in 2010.

Certainly, the two sets of tapes have one thing in common: they both reveal the dark underbelly of the cosy club in the higher reaches of power---and it is not a pretty sight. But deep down, they are very different, not just in the kind of conversations they contain.

1) The biggest difference between the Radia Tapes and Essar Tapes is the way they were recorded. The Radia Tapes came as a result of the efforts of the Income Tax department, which had tapped the lobbyist’s phone for 300 days between 2008 and 2009.

It was an authorised operation by a government body. The IT department had sought prior permission from the Union home ministry to tap her phone lines with the intent being specific—investigating possible charges of money laundering and tax evasion.

The Essar Tapes, on the other hand, can only be termed as an act of corporate espionage. Its intentions, aside from trying to obtain information on a corporate rival, are unclear.

Moreover, it has “illegal” written all over it as the recording of the tapes was ostensibly done by a private company, albeit a cell phone operator. The whistleblower Albasit Khan has muddied the waters, by bringing a Bombay Crime Branch officer, now deceased, into the picture.

2) The Radia Tapes were centered around a single person’s conversations with politicians, businessmen, journalists, etc, showing how the lobbyist manipulated the system to push the interests of her clients in telecom and petroleum.

The Essar Tapes, at least the ones ‘Outlook’ has heard and the transcripts of the ones contained in a letter to the Prime Minister, do not have a central character, although a few of them figure more than once.

Also, there is no central intent. The conversations are scattered and involve a range of issues concerning cabinet positions, policy decisions, etc.

3) The manner in which the two sets of tapes entered the public domain is different too. In the Radia Tapes, the voice of the protagonist came through loud and clear, complete with her ring tone ‘Pal, pal, pal...’ on day one.

In the Essar Tapes, on the other hand, nobody’s voice has been heard, at least not so far, although ‘Outlook’ reporter Ushinor Majumdar has listened to a few of the recordings.

4) The Radia Tapes reached the press through sources whose identity have not been disclosed yet. The Essar Tapes, on the other hand, have been made public by a Supreme Court lawyer who says he was approached by the whisleblower (who denies the claim) to file a legal case against the company for the phone tapping.

Albasit Khan, according to lawyer Suren Uppal, was told by Essar that the recordings were being made under a statutory obligation to support government investigations and that the phones were already under government surveillance.

5) And finally, the Radia Tapes indicted only the UPA government while the Essar Tapes, which have recordings from 2000 to 2011, have brought into question the dealings of both the Congress as well as the BJP.