NEW DELHI: The Government on Wednesday denied that the mobile telephone of the former Supreme Court judge Justice, S.N. Variava, was under surveillance last year as alleged by a private news channel.

"The Department of Telecom has confirmed that MTNL has reported that the mobile telephone number 9868219600 has not been under interception. The mere display of Call Data Records [on television screen] does not mean that the telephone is under interception or surveillance," said L.C. Goyal, Joint Secretary (Internal Security), Home Ministry, in a statement here.

Reading out the brief statement at a hurriedly called press conference, Mr. Goyal said no authorisation was given by the Home Ministry, the Delhi Government or Delhi Police for intercepting the telephone number.

Mr. Goyal was reacting to a "breaking news" story being telecast by a private news channel since Tuesday suggesting that Mr. Justice Variava's phone was under surveillance from September 1 to 9, 2005.

Mr. Goyal said the channel was asked by Delhi Police to send copies of the CDR and any other information it might have, but it was yet to send the information.

Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Arun Jaitley emphasised the "seriousness" of the allegation that the telephone of a Supreme Court judge was being tapped.

Even as he demanded that the Government come out with a statement on the issue, the Home Ministry issued a statement. Mr. Jaitley said that the news channel "seems to have established that some kind of surveillance was being done."

He alleged that ever since the fodder scandal broke out nearly a decade back, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, an accused in the case, made attempts to delay the judicial process.

He suggested, without saying this directly, that Mr. Prasad could have been behind the "surveillance" on Mr. Justice Variava.

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