No criminality has been found in the inquiry initiated against ex-lobbyist Niira Radia, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told Supreme Court on Wednesday citing its 2015 sealed cover report.
"Nothing survives in this matter now," Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhatti said.
The CBI's submission comes on a plea filed by industrialist Ratan Tata who sought a probe in the leaked tapes scandal citing privacy issues. ASG Bhatti was apprising eight years after the Supreme Court directed a probe on Tata's plea.
The CBI is expected to file its status report before the top court takes hears the matter against in October.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, for NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), however, sought a probe in the leaked audio tapes and sought its public release.
In October 2013, the Supreme Court directed the CBI to look into 14 identified issues after examining the transcripts of over 5,800 conversations intercepted by the government between 2008 and 2009 as part of its tax evasion probe against Radia.
What is the Radia Tapes scandal?
The Radia tapes controversy refers to leaked conversations between political lobbyist Niira Radia and several politicians, industrialists, senior journalists and other government officials. On a complaint filed with the authorities, the Income Tax department took consent from the Home Ministry and bugged Radia's phones for a period of 300 days.
Radia, the promoter of Vaishnavi Communications, was being probed for money laundering, tax evasion, and other finance-related crimes.
The Radia Tapes scandal could be considered the precursor to the 2G scam. The tapes exposed the role of media persons in influencing the then UPA government's decision to appoint A. Raja as telecom minister and Radia's attempts to broker the 2G spectrum sale.
In the aftermath of the leaked audiotapes, 14 preliminary enquiries (PEs) were registered to probe possible offenses that may arise from the leaked conversations. However, more than a decade later, the CBI said all cases stand close now due to inadequate evidence.
"The conversations are indicative of the deep-rooted malice by private enterprises in connivance with government officials and others for extraneous purposes. Interested persons have secured gains from government officers and others which are suggestive of corrupt means being adopted by private parties to extract gains," the Supreme Court had said in 2013 while ordering a probe.
