The special court hearing 2G spectrum scam cases on Saturday reserved for December 21 its order on taking cognisance of the second supplementary charge sheet filed by the CBI last Monday indicting Essar Group promoters Ravikant and Anshuman Ruia for violating DoT guidelines forbidding existing telecom operators owning over 10 per cent share in new UAS licensee companies.
Special Public Prosecutor U.U. Lalit placed before the court the CBI's prayer for taking cognisance of the charge sheet, stating that the five accused persons and three telecom companies structured Loop Telecom through a “complex corporate veil” despite owning nearly 33 per cent equity in Vodafone Essar, an existing operator.
Besides the Ruias, those chargesheeted include, Loop Telecom promoters Kiran and I.P. Khaitan, Essar Group Director (Strategy and Planning) Vikash Saraf and three telecom companies — Loop Telecom Private Limited, Loop Mobile India Limited and Essar TeleHoldings Limited.
Essar Group, in a statement, had denied all charges.
“Essar has consistently maintained that its shareholding in Loop has always been less than 10 per cent since the acquisition of BPL Mobile by the Khaitan group in 2005. Essar's position has been validated at every stage by various arms of the government,” Essar said in a statement on Saturday
