NEW DELHI — India's feisty media claim to be guardians of national democracy, but a scandal involving high-profile journalists and telephone taps has given the country its own WikiLeaks-style controversy.
At the centre of the storm is India's best-known television journalist, Barkha Dutt, who is accused of acting as a power broker in negotiations involving big business and the government over allocation of cabinet seats.
Tapes recorded by the police have emerged as part of a major row over the cut-rate sale of mobile phone licences in 2007-2008 which is estimated to have cost the treasury as much as 40 billion dollars in lost revenues.
Transcripts of the 104 tapes, many of which have been printed by two news magazines, have brought question marks over the reputations of Dutt, veteran newspaper columnist Vir Sanghvi and other big media names.
The tapes are a treasure trove for close followers of New Delhi's interwoven media, business and political scenes.
A number of them, which record the conversations of about 30 journalists, date back to 2009 when the re-elected Congress party was patching together its current coalition government.
Dutt and Sanghvi are heard in separate conversations discussing who should be in the cabinet with influential lobbyist Niira Radia, who was pushing for A. Raja, a south Indian regional politician, to be reinstated as a minister.
As telecom minister before the election, Raja had supervised the sale of the lucrative 2G phone licences at knock-down prices -- which is now emerging as potentially one of the biggest corruption cases in Indian history.
Radia worked as a lobbyist for two of India's biggest industrialists: Mukesh Ambani, head of Reliance Industries, and Ratan Tata, whose conglomerate's interests include phone operator Tata Teleservices.
Since the leaks, Tata has gone to court to try to stop any further dissemination of the tapes, saying disclosure of Radia's "purely personal" telephone conversations with him violated his right to privacy.
Critics have accused Dutt and Sanghvi of acting like deal-makers rather than journalists in their chummy conversations with Radia about the cabinet's makeup.
Raja was reappointed as telecom minister despite controversy over the 2G telecoms sale. He has since resigned, but denies any wrongdoing.
"What they seem to have done is fall into the trap that beguiles well-known journalists, of thinking that they are important players rather than observers on behalf of their readers and viewers," commented Indian publisher T.N. Ninan.
Both Dutt and Sanghvi have denied any improper dealings with Radia or that they acted as go-betweens for her and the Congress party.
Dutt, who is famous for her combative interviewing style on the NDTV news channel, has for once found herself on the defensive.
On Tuesday night, she appeared on the channel for a special programme, and was quick to apologise for "an error of judgement," but she argued that the criticism amounted to a personal smear campaign against her.
Sanghvi, normally an outgoing character, this week announced he was taking a break from his influential column for the Hindustan Times newspaper "to do some thinking."
The tapes draw in some of India's most famous people.
One relates to a bitter feud between Mukesh Ambani and his younger brother Anil over the carve-up of the corporate empire left to them by their father who died without a will. Sanhgvi is heard on tape apparently offering Mukesh Ambani a "rehearsed" TV interview.
The tapes, which cover thousands of hours of conversation, were recorded during a police income tax investigation in which Radia's lines were tapped for 300 days.
The magazines, Open and Outlook, which printed the tapes admit the recordings were "selectively leaked" and say they have no clue about their source or the motivation behind their release.
Radia, who heads Mumbai-based Vaishnavi Corporate Communications, has made no comment directly on the licence sale but has accused the media of "spreading stories of misinformation and malice" about her and her company.
The telecoms scandal has led to paralysis in parliament as the opposition has blocked all business for weeks demanding a cross-party investigation.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who normally manages to stand aloof from India's political fray, was also drawn into the controversy after he was asked to explain his "alleged inaction" over the licence sales by the Supreme Court.
