2G: Ruias, Khaitans exempted from personal appearance in CBI court till 17th March

A special CBI court hearing the 2G spectrum case on Wednesday exempted members of the Ruia and Khaitan families from appearing before it till 17 March.

However, Vikash Saraf, CEO of Essar’s telecom business has appeared in court. He has not been taken into custody.

Anshuman Ruia, Ravi Ruia, Vikash Saraf, IP Khaitan and Kiran Khaitan have been chargesheeted by CBI in 2G case which accuses them of cheating and criminal conspiracy in acquiring 2G licences.

Ravi Ruia and Anshuman Ruia are promoters of Essar Group while IP Khaitan and Kiran Khaitan are promoters of Loop Telecom.

The court ruled in favour of the Essar and Loop executives, saying that summons have not been supplied adequately. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India’s premier federal investigative agency, said it has made all efforts to serve the summons to the Khaitans and Ruias named in the case.

This was the second time the Special CBI court had summoned the Ruias and Khaitans.

Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Parag Tripathi, appearing for Ruias and Khaitans respectively, moved separate applications for taking exemption from personal appearance for their clients on grounds including that they were residents of UAE and they have not been properly served with the summons.

Khaitans have also cited their "poor health" condition as additional ground in support of their exemption pleas. "The case against us is not a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and, moreover, we have challenged the administrative order of the Delhi High Court by which this court was constituted to hear the 2G case," Rohatgi said.

The apex court would hear the matter on March 1 and the outcome would decide the forum and the course of trial against us, he added. 

The court asked the CBI to provide the copy of the charge sheet along with all the relevant documents to the accused who have appeared before it.

The authorized representatives of three firms, Loop Telecom Pvt Ltd, Loop Mobile India Ltd and Essar Tele Holdings which have also been charge sheeted along with their promoters also appeared today following the issuance of summons against them.

The telecom scam centers on whether some of India's biggest companies colluded with politicians and bureaucrats to buy mobile network licenses and spectrum at throwaway prices that caused significant losses to the national exchequer.

The CBI alleges that in 2008, when A. Raja was Telecom Minister, Essar used Loop as a proxy to get spectrum. Guidelines forbid a telecom from owning more than 10 per cent stake in another operator that services the same area. In 2008, Essar had a 33 per cent stake in Vodafone, and owned a substantial chunk of Loop, says the CBI.

(With inputs from PTI)