Radia breathes easy as HC stays release of book on tapes

New Delhi: In a relief to corporate lobbyist Niira Radia, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday stayed the release and circulation of a book authored by advocate RK Anand on her controversial, tapped telephonic conversation with various high-profile individuals. [caption id=“attachment_15447” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The book Close Encounter with Niira Radia was slated for release in the first week of June. Reuters”]  [/caption] Justice VK Jain accorded the legal relief to Vaishnavi Corporate Communications Director Niira Radia on her plea that the release of the book would cause irreparable loss to her reputation in society. Radia has been in news after the leakage of her tapped conversations with high-profile industrialists, political leaders, corporate heads and journalists. The book Close Encounter with Niira Radia was slated for release in the first week of June. The civil suit, filed through law firm Khurana & Company, alleged that the book is written to sully Radia’s image. The court also issued notice to Har Anand Publications Pvt and fixed the matter for further hearing on July 22. Radia had approached the high court earlier also for injunction against release of the movie, Monica — the Politics of Murder. On her plea against the release of the movie starring Ashutosh Rana, the high court had issued notice to its producer Kush Bhargava, a Lucknow-based Congress leader. She had sought relief on the ground that the movie depicted her private life in a “scandalous” manner. “In the case of ordinary citizen who is not a public figure is entitled to the right to privacy, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution for Fundamental Right to Life and Liberty and that the said right shall take precedence over all other rights of the public,” she had contended. PTI