New Delhi, February 23: Industrialist Ratan Tata has told the Supreme Court that he is not a “public figure” and his relationship with corporate lobbyist Niira Radia is of no public interst.
Denying suggestions made by the Open Media Network Private Limited in its affidavit that the industry czar is a public figure, Tata said “I deny the suggestion that I am a public figure” as “I do not hold any elective office or the office in government.”
“I (also) deny the suggestion that ‘petitioner’s (Tata’s) relationship with Niira Radia, who is embroiled in a controversy, is of public interest since the public has the right to know about the nature of relationship of public figures,” said Tata in his counter affidavit to the stand taken by the journal Open’s publishers.
–Agencies