This piece first appeared on Nikam's website.

“Jamsetji Tata was a man of great achievement, far-seeing and circumspect. His resolute will enabled him to elaborate projects which his imagination conceived upon the largest scale. He was at once a businessman, a patriot, and a thinker, whose service to India was as great as his love for her was profound” —- Frank Harris, author of “Jamestji Nusserwanji Tata, A Chronicle of His Life”, in his preface, May 1925.

“In Indian industry the terms ‘integrity’ and ‘Tata’ are synonymous, with the result that the House of Tata and its far flung organisation have the stamp of stability, security and success”, in the jacket of the above Book.

For generations of Indians, and even outside the country, if there was one word which spelt “trust” and “integrity”, it was the word Tata. One of the well known legendary tales in the Indian industry about Tatas was that “Tatas don’t bribe” and “Tatas don’t indulge in politics”. It was an intrinsic principle of the House of Tatas, and for all the employees of this humongous group it was a matter of honour that they believed and practised this principle.

Recently the present chairman of the Tata group, Ratan Tata, who has taken his group beyond even the wild imagination of its founder, Jamsetji Tata, in his over two decades of stewardship, came out publicly, how he did not get the permission to start an airlines, because he did not want to pay a bribe. Meanwhile, his group has got caught in a huge controversy, following the Radia tapes being made public, and his own conversations with the controversial lobbyist, Niira Radia, whom he has hired to take care of the corporate communications of his entire group, an extraordinary step by itself.

Here it would be interesting to mention that the Tata group has one of the most acclaimed and oldest in-house Corporate communication network. What was then known as the Department of Publicity, the modern version of corporate communications, was established in or around 1928, and alongwith the Indian Railways Publicity department, is considered the oldest set up in the country. It was this set-up which handled all the work of liaisoning with governments, media and public, in the interest of the various companies of the Tata group for decades, before Ratan Tata decided to bring in Niira Radia’s Vaishnavi communication around 2006-07. It has left the corporate communication wing of the Tata group of companies to just manage events, while Radia is being, according to sources, paid Rs 34 crore per year.

Coming back to Ratan Tata and his interview on television, he has warned the country of heading towards becoming a “banana republic”. He has also claimed in this interview while referring to him having contracted Niira Radia’s firm, Vaishnavi Communications to represent his group that, "Never once in our association with her have we tried to subvert policy, move policy... Never once have we used her to make payments or to seek favours...."

How much does this statement stand to scrutiny in the light of the revealations made in the Tapes and also in the documents of the CBI and Directorate General of Income Tax which are in the public domain, and have not been challenged so far.

In the “Internal evaluation report of July 2009” phone calls, after Niira Radia’s phones had been kept under surveillance the report states, “There is a long call between Ratan Tata and Radia, which establishes that Mr Tata wanted to prevent Mr Maran(Dayanidhi) from becoming the Telecom Minister at any cost” (this tape is still not in public domain).

Meanwhile, in the published tapes of his conversation with Niira Radia (see Outlook dated Nov 29, 2010), Ratan Tata tells Radia:

RT: — I guess the only concern I have is that Maran is going hammer and tongs for Raja. And I hope Raja doesn’t trip or slip out.

It is now well known through all the tapes available in the public domain that Niira Radia was desperately trying to keep Maran out of the telecom ministry in May 2009, when the UPA II cabinet was being formed. Now is this not subverting policy or trying to move policy? And does it not blow up the myth that Tatas don’t indulge in politics?

Now coming to the second assertion of Ratan Tata in the TV interview, about him(his group) not having used Niira Radia to make payments or to seek favours, the following is the conversation, the transcripts of which have hitherto not been available in public domain.

The conversation is between Ratnam, chartered accountant of Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi’s third wife Rajathiammal, Rajathiammal herself and Niira Radia. The conversation took place on June 13, 2010, more than three weeks after the UPA II Cabinet had been formed and A Raja had been successfully planted as the Telecom Minister and Dayanidhi Maran, was kept out, as desired by Ratan Tata and also Mukesh Ambani, as conversations of Radia with others clearly indicate.

Following is the full text of the conversation between Ratnam/Rajathiammal and Niira Radia:

Ratnam to Radia: Hii morning Madam.

Radia to Ratnam: Hii, hii, uhh uhh

Ratnam to Radia: Madam(Rajathiammal, third “wife” of Karunanidhi and mother of DMK MP, Kanimozhi) baat karna chahti hai, de doon?

Radia to Ratnam: haan haan, please ok,(whispers to someone nearby— Karunanidhi ki patni)— call is being transferred, (she takes a deep breath) call connects— oh I am so sorry, hello how are you(very sweetly indulgent)?

Rajathi to Radia: Hello, I am fine, how are you(in english)?

Radia to Rajathi: I am so sorry, I have not been in touch, I am busy! How are you?

Rajathi to Radia: am fine.

Radia to Rajathi: Yeah, keeping better?

Rajathi to Radia: ummm

Radia to Rajathi: Good, good, good. How is CM(Chief Minister M Karunanidhi)

Rajathi to Radia: (mumbles) aahhh, —ok.

Radia to Rajathi: (tone is still sweetly indulgent), good, Kani (Kanimozhi), Kani, I met last week, I didn’t meet her this week. Kani is in Chennai?

Rajathi to Radia: ahh yes.

Radia to Rajathi: Shes come no? How are things?(Rajathi mumbles again, clear she is not comfortable talking English), good. How are things?

Rajathi to Radia: mumbles something inaudible

Radia to Rajathi: Haan?(silence for sometime)

Rajathi to Radia: what happened?

Radia to Rajathi: (voice turning anxious) to?

Rajathi to Radia: aaahh

Radia to Rajathi: Tata?

Rajathi to Radia: ah, yes

Radia to Rajathi: (very anxious)not done?

Rajathi to Radia: no, not done( voice low )

Radia to Rajathi: Ratnam is there?

Rajathi to Radia: Yes.

Radia to Rajathi: I will talk , let me speak to him. I thought it was all done

Rajathi to Radia: (voice low) yes, ummm( hands over to Ratnam)

Radia to Ratnam: Hi Ratnam( tone changes, more authoritative)

Ratnam to Radia: Hi Madam

Radia to Ratnam: What happened its not done?( anxious indignation in the voice)

Ratnam to Radia: No Madam, it s not done(??). I just give you a message, no madam.

Radia to Ratnam: I didn’t get a message.

Ratnam to Radia: Madam?

Radia to Ratnam: I got a new mobile, I thought you got my mobile. You don’t have my new mobile number?

Ratnam to Radia: I am talking to you on that mobile only na? Same mobile he(?) also tried no.

Radia to Ratnam: No, no, this is my regular mobile, the other one, my indicom, my indicom(she gives the number)

Ratnam to Radia: no, this(new number) has not been given to us.

Radia to Ratnam: I had told Cecilia(Personal assistant to Krishna Kumar, Director, Tata Sons, and one of key aides of Ratan Tata, and also Chairman, Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd.) last week itself.

Ratnam to Radia: You know Cecelia(?) is totally last one week , not in touch.

Radia to Ratnam: no, no, I will tell you why. Her mother’s is in hospital.

Ratnam to Radia: yeah, that I know.

Radia to Ratnam: She’s been very sick. So that’s why Cecilia has been a little problematic.

Ratnam to Radia: ummm, ummmm. But you said no, you yourself has done.(Radia—yeah!), But that has not come. That’s why I sent a message to you.

Radia to Ratnam: (short silence) I cant believe it, is it?(Ratnam—yeah madam, yeah madam) That can’t be possible( anxiety in her voice)

Ratnam to Radia: No mam, it(?) has not come.

Radia to Ratnam: (short silence) What about Tatas? Whats happening on that?

Ratnam to Radia: Mam, Tata everything’s ok, but this rent 50 percent, yesterday I got a mail, that’s why yesterday also I tried you.(Radia—haan) This agreement, they say that 50 percent of the rent has to be paid by us. So I have already sent a mail to Krishna Kumar(Director, Tata Sons and key aide of Ratan Tata and Chairman, Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd.) stating that its not possible. Then I made a call to Krishna Kumar, he did not picked up(sic) and then I called Sanjay Ubhalia(Managing Director, Tata Realty and Infrastructure ltd) (Radia—haan). He says that he will take up the issue with Krishna Kumar and sort it out that(sic).

Radia to Ratnam: No, but when you were in Bombay, it was agreed that no rent and—

Ratnam to Radia: Everything was clearly agreed and Krishna Kumar also said that he will talk to Voltas(a Tata Group company) and he will waive that. But yesterday I tried ten times to call Krishna Kumar and he didn’t pick up, and he was in a meeting it seems.

Radia to Ratnam: No, No yesterday there was a board meeting of Indian Hotels and the annual results were being announced, and also they were in the middle of buying Sea Rock Hotel in Bombay, you know? (Ratnam—ummm). So that’s why it was very difficult to reach him yesterday.(Ratnam—-yeah, yeah)

Ratnam to Radia: yeah, yeah, that’s why I called you , I want to tell you this yesterday.

Radia to Ratnam: No, I will speak to him, ahh Ratnam, I will speak to him Monday, because you know today he is not there, he has gone with the Chairman(Ratan Tata). I hope he hasn’t gone, he was supposed to travel to the US today(Ratnam—who mam?), Krishna Kumar was supposed to travel to US today.

Ratnam to Radia: No mam, only one day, Thursday only he come back, na madam?

Radia to Ratnam: No, no, he has gone again. He is going with his Chairman today. (Ratnam— is it mam?), Yeah, yeah, he was scheduled to travel this morning by Air India(Ratnam—oh!), let me check, le me check. I will have a word with them. But then I am surrrprised!

Ratnam to Radia: Yes, Mam, that’s why I am repeatedly calling Cecilia, and that mobile is totally switched off.

Radia to Ratnam: ummmmm ahhhh, let me talk to her. I will talk to her annnddd, you got my other number na?

Ratnam to Radia: I got your number, that number is what you are talking now na?

Radia to Ratnam: yeah, yeah, do me a favour Ratnam. Give me a missed on that number from your phone. (Ratnam— yeah, yeah) You don’t have any other phone Ratnam?(Ratnam—I have Madam) Give me a missed call from that number na, which is— (gets disconnected)
(Source: Outlook)

The issue being discussed in this conversation becomes clear when one peruses the internal evaluation report of the Directorate General of Income Tax, wherein the report clearly states:

3. Tata through Voltas(a Tata group organisation) is in touch with Niira Radia and Ratnam, CA of (Rajathi)Ammal, wife of (Chief Minister) M.Karunanidhi.

They are apparently going to construct a building in Chennai on a land controlled by “TRIL” (Tata Realty and Infrastructure ltd.) with the Karunanidhi family as a payoff to DMK for keeping Maran out of Telecom(ministry).

Coming to another legendary truth about the Tata group, that their dealings are most transparent, as its founder J.N.Tata had envisaged. Again as per the documents of the DGIT two transactions which comes out of the conversations between Niira Radia and others, including Tata( which are still not in the public domain) shows how Radia influenced Tata to indulge in “not so transparent” operations.

One is the Rs 250 crore which Tatas have paid to Unitech(as per documents http://indiasreport.com/magazine/data/the-radia-papers-raja-tata-ambani-connection/), during the time of the 2G spectrum allocation, which has now come under a great deal of cloud. The document states:

6. Unitech as per conversations holds TATA’s Rs.250 crore, which were organized by Mrs.Radia. Many cheques for repayment have bounced. (This tape is not yet in the public domain)

Now apart from having links with Unitech, the taped conversation analysis has also found that :

2. Apparently Tata, as per taped conversation, indirectly controls equity in Aircel( a rival mobile operator apparently), through Maxis Communication and Apollo. (this tape is also still not in public domain)

It is also interesting to note that Niira Radia in more than one conversations with different people, keeps harping about how former Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Madhu Koda had demanded a pay off of Rs.180 crore to extend a iron ore mining lease to the Tata Steel. Apparently this mine in South Jharkhand has been with the Tata Steel for decades, and the lease has to be periodically extended by the Government. She also claims in her conversations that she had rejected it.

What however she doesn’t say in these conversations is how she managed to get the lease extended. That is available in the DGIT documents summarizing the conversations taped. In the document, it says:

3. Apparently in Jharkhand, Tatas needed its lease on a mine to be extended. As per conversation, former CM Madhu Koda had sought a payoff of Rs.180 crore. Mrs.Radia had got the lease extended from the governor of Jharkhand(apparently Syed Sibte Razi) and part from her success fee(amount not known) Ratan Tata has sanctioned Rs.1 crore as reward for the team handling it.

The question which arises from this revealation is what was this “success fee”? As per industry insiders who are familiar with such transactions, it is an euphemism for “payoffs” to be given to those who demand it for getting the work done. Incidentally it may be recalled after Madhu Koda was forced to quit in August 2008, Shibu Soren came in as CM, only to lose it in January 2009, after which there was President’s rule in Jharkhand between January and December. Sibte Razi was Governor between Dec. 2004 and July 2009, when he was shifted after a series of controversies. Two of Razi’s aides, Avinash Kumar, an IAS officer and Rajesh Thakur, PA to Razi, are both facing CBI enquiry into charges of corruption and disproportionate assets at present. So is there any relation to the “success fee” and these officials?

So does Ratan Tata’s assertions hold true? Is the House of Tatas today as it was legendary known to be always? These are the questions which are now begging answers., especially after the way in which hand his lobbyist Radia, moved heaven and earth to get Raja the Telecom Ministry. And they were able to get their way, as the above conversation between Radia and Rajathiammal indicates, after appeasing the DMK’s first family.

On the other hand If Tata has nothing to hide and as he claims wants a clean investigation into all the allegations flying around, why is he planning to move the Supreme Court to bring a stay order on further disclosure of the intercepted conversations? Are there more skeletons in the cupboard, as the as yet undisclosed conversations mentioned above indicate? If not why should he shy away from a “transparent” investigation? The legend that “Integrity” and “Tata” are synonymous may sadly just get dented, if not destroyed, if any such attempts are made now.