[Reader-list] ŒI Am Surprised Raja After All You Did For Him Is Playing This Game¹

[SJabbar]

radia tapes
 
ŒI Am Surprised Raja After All You Did For Him Is Playing This Game¹
 
Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons
** 

Niira Radia (NR): So, you¹re still in the Middle East?

Ratan Tata: Yeah. I am still in Israel.

NR: The budget was okay. Rural growth...

RT: Yeah. It didn¹t do anything one way or the other. I  guess the only
concern I have is that Maran is going hammer and tongs for Raja.  And I hope
Raja doesn¹t trip or slip or...

NR: No, he hasn¹t, because the chief justice has issued a  statement that no
minister called the high court justice. (A Madras High Court  judge had
alleged that a Union minister had tried to influence him, and  Dayanidhi
Maran immediately pointed fingers at A. Raja.)

RT: Oh, really?

NR: The Chief Justice of India has issued that statement. So  that is
clarified. And in any case that did not happen and Maran is made to look  a
little bit of a fool.

RT: Okay.

NR: And, in any case, if something did happen, it would  bring Kani
(Kanimozhi) into that position, not Maran.

RT: Okay.

NR: In any case, it was the president of the bar association  who said that
in open court.

RT: Okay.

*** 

NR: Round II of the telecom battle has started. I don¹t  know how many more
battles there will be.

RT: I¹m surprised that Raja after all that you supposedly  did for him is
playing this game.

NR: I explained to Kani. I met her yesterday on the way back  home last
evening. I told her, Kani, this is what is happening. She told me  I¹ll call
him and tell him to behave. He (Raja) very clearly told me, ŒTell  me,
Niira, how can I go against the court order?¹ So I said, ŒHello, Mr  Raja,
you can go against the court. You don¹t have to go by what the court  said
because 4.4 (megahertz) is what the licence entitlement is and it¹s for  you
to interpret.¹ So there is this little game going on.

RT: But now with the new attorney-general or whoever he  is...

NR: No, Ratan, that¹s a good thing. I¹ll tell you  why‹because he can only
handle constitutional matters. The solicitor-general  is the gentleman‹I
told you about the swimming pool thing‹Gopal Subramaniam.  He¹s the guy who
will be doing the interpretation. I¹m going to see him. I  sent him a
message and he said he will call back at 5.30-6 when he gets free and  is
home. So I will be briefing him.... Actually, he hates them (the Anil Ambani
group). I¹m not sure he¹ll agree to what they say. He¹s an upright
person.... I think Raja will be trying to get in the AG. He briefed PM
yesterday  about 3G saying he wants to put up a cabinet note and doesn¹t
want to go to  the GoM. They¹ll do all this drama but I don¹t think there¹ll
be 3G auctioning before March next year. They¹re not gonna do it in a hurry.
And the  only reason they want to do 6.25 (MHZ) for Anil is so that he can
get AT&T  to buy into his company. AT&T is talking to him right now, Ratan.

RT: I see...

NR: Yeah, coz he needs an equity partner otherwise he  can¹t survive with
the debts he¹s got. His avenues have closed unless he  fudges some other
things and raises money.

RT: Why isn¹t all this exposed?

NR: Ratan, they¹re buying up the media. They¹re using  their buying power
with the media. For every ad they place...I can¹t tell you  the discussions
I have had with the media, in particular the Times Group and Dainik
Bhaskar‹the Aggarwal guys who you met....

RT: Yes...

NR: They say, Niira, every time we do a negative story on  them, they
withdraw advertising. So, I said, fine, others can also withdraw
advertising.... They leverage every dollar of their mediaspend to ensure
they  don¹t get negative publicity. The media is very, very greedy....