"See what was recorded was a conversation of a person suspected to have violated tax laws. Now we were not recording the other end. We were recording one end and it so happened that the other end people's conversation were recorded," he told mediapersons on the sidelines of a function to give away awards to small and medium enterprises.
"But I am afraid when there is major scam or a major tax violation, if such conversations are recorded, I don't think anyone should leak it out. But, I am afraid, some of this is inevitable," he said.
He rejected reports that his ministry had set up a probe into the leakage of tapes.
On corruption and whether it was hampering the corporate growth, Chidambaram said, "I don't think you need to be worried. It's sad that there has been some bad patches but as Professor Jagdish Bhagwati said let's not exaggerate corruption."
"Corruption is an issue, it must be addressed, it must be nipped in the bud and anyone who is found corrupt must be punished. But I don't think you should allow yourself to be drowned in this cacophony that everything is corrupt and everybody is corrupt," he said.
