“The case has been registered under section 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code for violation of the licensing norms of the department of telecommunication (DoT),” a CBI spokesperson said.
The FIR was filed on a complaint by the ministry of communications and information technology, which said it had come to the notice of DoT that Singapore Telecommunications Limited — an alleged illegal service provider — was selling unauthorised ILD services to Indian customers without obtaining requisite licences.
It was doing so in connivance with Bharti Airtel and Tata Communications.
The CBI first registered a preliminary enquiry to look into the charges. After a preliminary probe, the agency converted that into an FIR. The DoT had registered a complaint with the CBI on November 29, 2010.
When contacted, Bharti Airtel refused to comment, while quoted Tata Communications was quoted as saying that it would not comment on speculation.