Mumbai, Oct 6: Industrialists in Mumbai and Pune were emphatic that telephone tapping was a direct intrusion on their privacy. "This is not an issue of ethics or safety. It is an encroachment of one's constitutional freedom. The law provides a certain framework which logically should guarantee privacy," said a leading industrialist who did not wish to be named.

According to him, "The phone tapper has taken the law into his own hands and broken it. The law should ensure that there is no repetition." So shaken were businessmen by the telephone tapping incident involving Ratan Tata and others, that they absolutely refused to come on record against the government.

Echoing this sentiment, another prominent businessman said that every citizen of India was entitled to privacy and tapping telephones amounted to a clear violation of privacy.

"What is the state going to do about this? How will it guarantee privacy in future? Are we now going to concentrate on getting the ultras or a few businessmen who are trying hard to protect their employees' interests?" he asked.

The possibility has dawned on most businessmen that their telephones could be tapped and, hence, the need to exercise greater caution. They are still not certain if they could seek some protection in advance against such an eventuality. "If we do so, the authorities concerned will believe that we have something to hide," they said.

Industrialists are also uncertain on why this is happening. "First, we thought this was being targeted on those who were tax defaulters or others who had links with the underworld. Now, this has taken a serious dimension and we are now a very worried lot," they said.

More than just anxiety, most captains of Indian industry are furious that their private life could now be out in the open. To them, it is "an awful situation to be in, to just think that a conversation is being overheard by another person who could use it against us in the future." They want the government to put an end to this but then who will take the initiative is the question.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government on Monday made it clear that it had nothing to do with reported tapping of telephones of leading industrialist Ratan Tata and Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in connection with the Tata Tea-Ulfa affair. Deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde told The Financial Express on Monday that "neither the state government nor I as a home minister has ordered tapping of phones in Maharashtra." He added that the state had not received any complaints on alleged phone tapping from any quarter.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.