Essar named in third chargesheet

The chargesheet and accompanying documents were presented before Special Judge O P Saini at 4.30 pm in five steel trunks. While the main chargesheet runs to 105 pages,the CBI reportedly refers to 398 documents to make their case,which comprise another 20,000-odd pages.

The CBI had also questioned Prashant Ruia group chief executive,Essar Group but he has not been included as an accused or witness,as there was no evidence against him.

The special CBI court in the Patiala House courts complex did not take cognizance of the chargesheet,and posted it for consideration on December 17. With the court not taking cognizance,the chargesheet was neither supplied to the accused nor was it made public.

The CBI has charged all the accused with criminal conspiracy to commit cheating Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code read with 120B. The chargesheet has a list of 100 witnesses,with four of them recording their statements under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Statements under CrPC 164 are made to a magistrate and deviating from them can invite charges under perjury.

The allegation against the accused is that Loop and those behind it cheated the Department of Telecom when it obtained Letter of Intent for Unified Access Services Licence UASL for 21 circles on January 10,2008. CBI officials believe Loop was just a front for Essar Group,making it a violation of clause 8 of the UASL Guidelines under which no company can have 10 per cent or more equity holding in more than one licensee company in the same service area. At the time Loop received its LOI,Essar held a 33 per cent stake in Vodafone-Essar.

Unable to find evidence of Department of Telecom officials involvement,the CBI has not invoked the Prevention of Corruption Act. Since no public official was found to have facilitated the gain,hence the case of cheating.

The CBI has reportedly not quantified the stake that Essar held in Loop. CBI sources said the chargesheet mentions that Loop was Essar itself,and that the latter controlled the former through a series of complex mechanisms.

In a statement issued to the press on Monday evening,Essar denied all charges,and said it would take legal recourse. The press statement referred to the fact that the CBI had not used the PC Act against the company: There are no charges of corruption or involvement in the 2G scam.

The statement said charges against the company were only pertaining to the way clause 8 of the UASL guidelines was interpreted. It added that the DoT has not made a complaint of cheating. The statement claimed that Essar held only 2.15 per cent in Loop during the time of application,and hence,did not violate clause 8.

The first chargesheet in the case was filed on April 2,and the first supplementary chargesheet on April 25. While the main chargesheet named 12,including three companies,the first supplementary chargesheet named another five.

CBI sources confirmed that investigation into the 2G spectrum case is continuing,but refused to divulge whether another chargesheet would be filed. However,an officer hinted at the possibility of getting along without filing a fresh chargesheet,by adding newly found evidence to the prevailing chargesheets.