5 top corporates face 2G charges
The CBI on Monday filed the second supplementary chargesheet over the 2G spectrum scam in a Delhi court, naming three companies — Loop Telecom Pvt Ltd, Loop Mobile India Ltd and Essar Teleholdings Ltd — as accused in the case.
The chargesheet also names five persons — three Essar Group promoters and two Loop Telecom promoters — as accused in the multi-crore scam. All of them were charged under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.
The Essar Group has denied any involvement in the 2G scam, insisting that it complied fully with all conditions set by the department of telecom. “Essar denies all charges and will take legal recourse. The charges against Essar relate only to interpretation of Clause 8 violation of the UASL guidelines, which is only a contractual issue,” a Essar Group release said.
“Essar has always maintained it held only 2.15 per cent in Loop during the time of the application and, therefore, there is no violation of Clause 8,” the statement said. The group claimed that despite the ministries of corporate affairs and law and justice having confirmed that there was no violation of Clause 8, the CBI had filed the third chargesheet. It said the chargesheet would not impact the business operations of the group.
The 106-page chargesheet with around 400 documents was brought in five trunks before CBI special judge O.P. Saini, who will take cognisance of the documents on December 17. The chargesheet, the third filed by the investigative agency in the case, names 100 people as prosecution witnesses.
The CBI has alleged that though Essar was an existing telecom operator, it created Loop Telecom as a front company to secure additional spectrum in violation of the telecom policy.
In the two previous chargesheets filed in the case, the CBI had named as accused three companies — Reliance Telecom Ltd, Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Pvt Ltd — as well as five corporate executives — Unitech managing director Sanjay Chandra, Reliance ADAG Group managing director Gautam Doshi, Reliance ADAG senior vice-president Hari Nair, group president Surendra Pipara and Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka.
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