E-Paper
No violation of cross-holding norms, asserts Essar
Asserting that it is in compliance with cross-holding norms, Essar group on Saturday said it is surprising that similar violations by other firms have not attracted such charges by the CBI or the telecom ministry.
Asserting that it is in compliance with cross-holding norms, Essar group on Saturday said it is surprising that similar violations by other firms have not attracted such charges by the CBI or the telecom ministry.
"Essar is surprised that similar clause 8 (concerning cross-holding) violations by other companies in the past have never attracted any such charges by the CBI or the Department of Telecommunication," Essar said in a statement.
A Delhi court on Saturday reserved its order for December 21 for taking cognisance of CBI's third chargesheet arising out of investigation in the 2G scam case against Essar Group and Loop Telecom promoters and companies.
In its charge-sheet filed on December 12, CBI had said the accused persons and companies created a "complex corporate veil" to cheat DoT by concealing that Essar, an existing telecom operator having substantial shares in Vodafone (then Hutch), was having more than 10% stake in the Loop.
"Essar has always maintained that it is fully compliant with all the UASL licence provisions. The alleged charges filed by the CBI relate to violation of clause 8 of the UASL guidelines," it said.
"Essar has consistently maintained that its shareholding in Loop has always been less than 10% since the acquisition of BPL Mobile by the Khaitan group in 2005. Essar's position has been validated at every stage by various arms of the government," it said.
"These (allegations) are ill-conceived and only made possible by CBI ignoring crucial facts made available to it. The CBI has also disregarded the views of the Government of India," it added.
Alleging that the Group has been facing a trial by media for the past several months during the investigation, it said the Group has not yet had any opportunity to defend itself and establish that it has done no wrong.
The Group added that it has full faith in the judiciary and will take all possible steps available to it in law to protect its reputation.
