JOIN USThe Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), which intercepted the conversation, maintains that the task of Radia included “managing the CPI-M and the CITU leaders”.
Giving an insight into wheeling-dealing by major industrialists and hatching of plots against one another, the tapes brought out Radia’s role in managing corporate affairs of mighty corporates. In one the tapes, Radia was found to be lobbying for Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani against his younger brother Anil Ambani.
According to probe agencies, Manoj Modi, a key man of Mukesh, was in a regular conversation with Radia, who was trying to organise a Delhi based-NGO to file PIL cases against Anil’s ADAG group. “There are also conversations relating to increased lobbying within the finance ministry to ensure that a seven-year tax holiday, available to exploration of mineral oil, is made available to Reliance gas,” investigating officials said.
The tapes also have talks on an outlay of Rs 150 core for “media management and environment management” by Anil Ambani-held companies, they said.
Thus, apart from managing telecom licences for certain companies, “the telephone conversation seem to hint that Srimati Radia has either handled or facilitated cross-border transfer of funds,” the officials added.