Ravi Ruia moves Supreme Court challenging CBI court's summoning order
A day after Sunil Bharti Mittal, CMD of Bharti Cellular Ltd, got a temporary relief in a graft case related to allocation of additional 2G spectrum in 2002, Essar Group promoter Ravi Ruia also moved the Supreme Court challenging the special CBI court's order summoning him as an accused in the case.
The CBI court had on March 19 summoned Mr Ruia and Mr Mittal, former Vodafone Essar CEO Asim Ghosh and former telecom secretary Shyamal Ghosh.
Mr Ruia said in his petition that it appeared that the only basis for summoning him was that as he had chaired some of the meetings of the company, thus he was an "alter-ego" and "directing mind of the will" of Sterling Cellular Ltd.
He also said he was not holding any executive position in the firm and at the relevant time, Essar Group was only a minority shareholder in Sterling Cellular Ltd, which was made an accused by the CBI in its charge sheet filed in the trial court on December 21 last year.
He said that such a basis, where any director is held liable for the acts of a firm, is contrary to the well-established legal position. The CBI had filed the charge sheet against former Telecom Secretary Shyamal Ghosh and three telecom companies- Bharti Cellular Ltd, Hutchison Max Telecom Pvt Ltd (now known as Vodafone India Ltd) and Sterling Cellular Ltd (now known as Vodafone Mobile Service Ltd).
Special CBI judge O P Saini, while summoning these accused for April 11 after taking cognisance of the charge sheet, had also asked Mr Ruia, Mr Mittal and Asim Ghosh, the then managing director of accused firm Hutchison Max Telecom Pvt Ltd, to appear before it.
Mr Ruia, whose name was not mentioned as an accused in CBI's FIR and charge sheet filed before the special 2G court, moved the apex court contending that if true and corrects facts about the affairs of Sterling Cellular Ltd, in which he was a director at that time, were placed before the trial court, such a summoning order may not have been passed.
Special CBI Judge O P Saini had said in his order that Mr Mittal, Mr Ghosh and Mr Ruia were named as the accused because "they represent the directing mind and will of each company".
"The acts of the companies are to be attributed and imputed to them. Consequently, I find enough material on record to proceed against them," he had further said.
An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir had on Monday postponed till April 16 the proceedings in the trial court in the case while hearing a plea filed by Mr Mittal.
