Essar Shipping (down 6.46%), Essar Ports (down 6.16%) and Essar Oil (down 5.27%), edged lower.
The BSE Sensex was down 21.27 points or 0.13% at 15,849.08.
Essar Oil had underperformed the market over the past one month until 12 December 2011, sliding 26.19% compared with the Sensex's 7.69% decline. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, falling 34.27% as against 3.83% fall in the Sensex.
The country's top investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on Monday (12 December 2011) charged five officials of the Essar Group and Loop Telecom with fraud and conspiracy as part of a wide-ranging court-monitored investigation into India's telecom sector.
The CBI filed charges in a Delhi court against industrialists Ravi Ruia and Anshuman Ruia, the promoters of Essar Group, its Director for strategy and planning, Vikas Saraf, and Loop promoters IP Khaitan and Kiran Khaitan.
The accused also include three companies - Loop Telecom, Loop Mobile India and Essar Tele Holding. The charges have been filed under Section 120 B, which defines criminal conspiracy, and Section 420, cheating, of the Indian Penal Code.
According to reports, the five officials could face a prison sentence of up to seven years in case of an unfavourable verdict. The court will consider the charges on Saturday, 17 December 2011.
The CBI said Essar Group used Loop Telecom as a front company to get spectrum and licenses in 21 of India's 22 telecommunications-service areas in 2008, at a time when the group already had a 33% stake in Vodafone-Essar, the Indian mobile-telecom unit of UK-based Vodafone Group PLC.
The CBI said Essar Group's alleged actions violated Clause 8 of the Unified Access Service License (UASL) guidelines, which refer to cross-holding rules preventing any operator from owning more than a 10% stake in another mobile telecom company with licenses in the same service area.
Essar Group has denied all charges and said in a written statement that it will take legal recourse. It said its understanding of the cross-holding rules is different from the CBI's interpretation of Clause 8. The group said it held just 2.15% of Loop when the latter applied for telecom licenses and, therefore, no violation of the cross-holding rules occurred. Essar Group added that the charges will not affect its business operations.
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