Govt goes into overdrive over corporate espionage

With corporate espionage scandal likely to be raised during Budget Session, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is on a public relation overdrive to contain the damage since the embarrassing case came to light on Friday.

Pradhan, whose ministry was hit by the scandal since lobbyists from top industrial houses such as Reliance companies and Essar have been arrested for stealing classified energy related documents, has been giving interviews to almost every news television channel and newspapers to assert that the high and mighty would not be spared.

“I had said, we won’t just talk about corruption, will do something concrete,” Pradhan said.

At an all-party meeting convened by Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, JD(U) raised the issue of corporate espionage saying it is threatening the country’s security and fiscal health.  Naidu confirmed parties’ concerns, saying that "some persons mentioned the leakage of the documents. The government will respond".

JD(U) chief  Sharad Yadav told reporters, after the meeting that the scandal reeked of "crony capitalism" since those caught by the police are “mere puppets”. "Who were operating them? Who are their real bosses? There is a need to catch the big fish. This is crony capitalism,” he said.

He was of the view that the sensational case demonstrates power corporates wield. “If you have to check all this crony capitalism, you will have to act against them.
 They are not many — only three or four. They are big people and have made the lives of the common man miserable,” Yadav said.

The veteran leader was apprehensive whether the government would act against the “big fish” since junior representatives have been rounded off by the police.

The petroleum minister, however, stated to a news agency that “nobody will be spared... nobody can breach law, howsoever powerful he may be... We will not allow anyone to breach the system”.