Anil Ambani group company Reliance Communications (RCom) today withdrew from the Supreme Court its plea challenging strictures and fine of Rs 150 crore imposed by telecom tribunal TDSAT when it was under the control of elder brother Mukesh.
The case was withdrawn by RCom counsel P H Parekh after the company officials and senior advocate Harish Salve took a decision in this regard.
The withdrawal incidentally comes at a time when a court in Chennai is pursuing a criminal prosecution initiated by CBI against top officials, including Manoj Modi, a top lieutenant of Mukesh Ambani, of erstwhile Reliance Infocomm.
The fine was imposed for masking incoming international calls as local ones to avoid payment of levy to state-owned telecom giants -- BSNL and MTNL.
The Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice S H Kapadia, Justices K S Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar passed some strict observations against the company while reading TDSAT's findings.
After sensing the mood of the bench, it withdrew its petition.
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TDSAT on March 5, 2005 had upheld the penalty imposed by the Department of Telecommunications on the company for illegal call routing, which was challenged by erstwhile Reliance Infocomm.
It may be pertinent to mention that Salve also represented Reliance Industries in the litigation with Anil Ambani-led Reliance Natural Resources on the issue of natural gas.
The two brothers announced a virtual truce in May this year to end the conflict between them.
According to the counsels associated with this case, now the TDSAT's order would become final and the observations made by the tribunal against the Reliance group firm would also attain finality.
"This may also effect the criminal prosecution initiated by the probe agency CBI in Chennai against some top executives of the undivided Reliance empire," the counsel said.
Earlier, a local court in Chennai had summoned Manoj Modi, Akhil Gupta, Shankar Adawal, Pankaj Panwar, K R Raju and Bhagwan Das Khurana of the erstwhile Reliance Infocomm Ltd.
The then TDSAT Chairman Justice DP Wadhwa had consented with the submissions made by the government that the Reliance group firm has done "fraud" by wrongly routing the calls.
"The method Reliance Infocomm, the petitioner, employed to camouflage an international call was certainly unprincipled and if we may say so unscrupulous," he had said in 2005.