Court summons Ruia and Mittal in 2G case

Special CBI judge O P Saini said that since these officials “were/are prima facie in control of affairs of the respective companies” and therefore “represented the directing mind and will of each company”,they could be held accountable for the actions of their companies.

The court also took cognisance of the chargesheet filed by CBI on December 21. The chargesheet names former telecom secretary Shyamal Ghosh,Bharti Airtel,Hutchison Max (now Vodafone India Ltd) and Sterling Cellular (now Vodafone Mobile Services) as accused in the conspiracy to allot additional spectrum to the companies at lower rates,causing a loss of over Rs 846 crore to the government.

The 57-page chargesheet had,however,failed to name any officials of the three companies even though it had alleged that “investigations had revealed that various directors,promoters and representatives of the telecom companies had been meeting the accused public servants in connection with getting allocation of the additional spectrum”.

The court had on two occasions asked the agency to identify company officials responsible,but the CBI had said it had not been able to identify any officials despite its best efforts. An NGO,Telecom Watchdog,had also filed an application demanding a probe into the conduct of the CBI,alleging that the investigation agency was deliberately “shielding” Mittal and had therefore “dropped his name” from the chargesheet despite evidence against him.

The court Tuesday held that there was “enough incriminating material on record to proceed against the accused persons,” noting that Mittal,Ghosh and Ruia were the “alter ego of their respective companies”.

The seven accused in the case are facing charges of criminal conspiracy and criminal misconduct by a public servant. The accused have been summoned to court on April 11. The NGO’s application was,however,rejected by the court.

An Airtel statement said the firm was “disappointed” and “saddened” by the chargesheet,and labelled it an “attempt to tarnish its high reputation”. It reiterated that the government had on several occasions stated on the floor of Parliament,even as recently as December 7,2012,that the additional spectrum granted to all operators and the related spectrum usage charges are as per the policy. The DoT has also filed affidavits before courts confirming the same,it said.

“We will fight this chargesheet against Bharti Airtel Ltd and Sunil Bharti Mittal.a global leader associated with some of the best known institutions of the world and a brand ambassador for India,” the statement added.

Essar too said it would challenge the order. “The recent order purporting to take cognisance against Mr Ravi Ruia,in relation to allegations of excess spectrum,is both shocking and surprising…We are consulting our legal experts and exploring all legal options and will in due course take up appropriate legal proceedings to challenge this order,” it said in a statement.