The Essar and Loop group of companies, chargesheeted with its promotors on a matter related to the telecom spectrum scam, on Thursday petitioned the Supreme Court in a challenge to the proceedings in this regard before the trial court in the main 2G case.
The bench, headed by judge G S Singhvi, asked for a separate petition to be filed, for a hearing next week.
The petitioners’ counsels told the judges the proceedings against them should be conducted before a magistrate, as the companies and their officials had not been charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), unlike the others accused in the scam.
Harish Salve, counsel for the Essar group, said they’d been asked by the high court here to seek a clarification from the SC (which had given a strongly worded order on the scam last week) on whether the trial court in the main case could conduct a trial of companies not charged under the PCA in the case arising out of the probe in the 2G spectrum scam.
The SC bench indicated it should not have been approached in the matter, saying, "The high court should have read the order (of last week). It is very clear." And, told Salve his client should “avail” the proper remedy available. Salve then said he’d file an interim application and sought an adjournment, after which it was listed for February 17.
The Central Bureau of Investigation had also filed an application for clarification on the issue; it then withdrew its plea.
The HC had said that the apex court's directions, restraining any other judicial forum to entertain any plea in the matter, was coming in its way from hearing the petitions of telecom firms. Besides Essar, the others named in the third chargesheet in the 2G case are Loop Mobile India Ltd, Essar group promoters Anshuman and Ravi Ruia, and Loop Telecom promoters Kiran Khaitan, husband I P Khaitan and Essar Group director Vikas Saraf. The chargesheet has been filed under section 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the penal code and the accusations are triable by a magistrate and not by the special court constituted under the PC Act for hearing the 2G case, said the Essar petition
