New Delhi: Senior counsel Anil Diwan, appearing for Outlook magazine, today challenged the maintainability of the petition filed by noted industrialist Ratan N Tata in the Supreme Court seeking to ban further leakage of Nira Radia tapes to the media.
Mr Tata, in his petition, has contended that such leakage violates his right to privacy which is an integral part of his fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, which includes life with dignity.
Senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for the petitioner, argued that this court must strike a balance between the right of freedom of speech and expression enjoyed by the media and the right to privacy and respectability enjoyed by a private citizen.
A bench comprising Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly, however, observed, ''Right to respectability is the most precious right of an individual and it must be protected and safeguarded under all circumstances.''
Senior counsel Rajeev Dhawan, appearing for Open magazine, contended that there are no specific allegations made in the petition alleging which part of the tapes is defamatory and violates his right to privacy.
He further submitted that the proper remedy for defamation would have been a suit for damages or criminal complaint against defamation as a mixed question of facts and law cannot be decided in a writ petition.
Mr Diwan went a step further and pleaded that media has every right to expose corruption and also to bring under public gaze the wrongdoings of the high-ups in the society.
The apex court granted three weeks time to the two magazines to file their counter affidavit and adjourned the hearing till the first week of February next year.
The Union government in its affidavit has alleged that there was a complaint against corporate lobbyist Ms Radia that she was working for foreign intelligence agencies and therefore her telephones were tapped with the prior approval of Ministry of Home Affairs to ascertain whether she was indulging in anti-national activities.
Mr Salve, appearing for Mr Tata, candidly admitted that ''the money will come from where the money is and no media house can be run without adequate financial backing.'' The Supreme Court also directed the Union government to produce the original complaint received against Ms Radia in November 2007.
