In a manner of speaking, corporate espionage is as old as the hills, or at least as old as the arrival on the scene of cut-throat competition as a defining feature of the capitalist order. If we accept corporate wars as a necessary aspect of fierce competition which, in theory, should benefit the customer unless it leads to the creation of a monopoly, then there is no getting away from the gathering of intelligence by fair means or foul in such wars, even if the latter is repugnant to ethical concerns. Companies go to extraordinary lengths to capture markets and frequently this even leads to the creation of political heft.
But the case unwinding in the corridor of powers in New Delhi is a somewhat different category as it involves the stealing of state secrets to bolster the corporate clients of those arrested, if what meets the eye is the truth. In their everyday life journalists routinely try to get hold of official information that may be marked “confidential” which they publish. The guiding principle here is public interest. By disseminating information, even of a sensitive nature, authentic reporters try to inform the citizen, an essential requirement if they must make informed decisions.
In the petroleum ministry leak case this fundamental requirement of journalism was not met. Quite the opposite. The motive was personal profit. Offices of top bureaucrats in sensitive positions were being brazenly breached at the dead of night with the use of copies of room keys procured on a wholly unlawful basis.
Strictly speaking, this is not corporate espionage, an expression which usually means a company stealing secrets of another company, typically a rival. In this case, beneficiaries appear to have been a company or several companies, and information was being purloined from the government. Foreign commercial players may also have been beneficiaries, since hydrocarbons exploration and pricing seem to have been target areas.
It is not unthinkable that foreign governments too may be direct or indirect beneficiaries. These days, governments in leading countries of the West espouse the cause of their companies energetically. Besides, government companies in some countries, interested in the area of oil and gas and other commodities, enjoy the strong backing of their government. Overall, it cannot be ruled out if those arrested were underlings of larger interests. The involvement of strong Indian players must also be unearthed in all its ramifications.
