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2G scam: Essar, Loop officials fail to appear
Top officials of Essar Group and Loop Telecom accused in the 2G-spectrum scam failed to appear before the special CBI court again.
Top officials of Essar Group and Loop Telecom accused in the 2G-spectrum scam failed to appear before the special CBI court again.
Essar group promoters Anshuman and Ravi Ruia, Loop promoters Kiran Khaitan and her husband IP Khaitan had not appeared before the court on January 27, too, saying they resided in Dubai and summons were not "duly" served on them.
They took the same plea again on Wednesday while seeking exemption from personal appearance. However, Essar Group director Vikas Saraf appeared on Wednesday and applied for bail.
The court allowed the plea of the Ruias and Khaitans for exemption from appearance but asked all the accused to be present in the court on March 17.
Their lawyer Mukul Rohatgi submitted that a petition questioning the CBI special judge's jurisdiction to try them was also pending in the Supreme Court.
Essar Group said in a statement: "Essar maintains it is not part of 2G scam. The only charge against us pertains to interpretation of Clause 8 of the United Access Service Licence guidelines, which, being a civil matter, can only be tried by a magistrate as it is merely a contractual issue."
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