Appearing for ETHL, senior advocate Harish Salve brushed aside the CBI's allegations against them in the charge sheet, saying that the agency has arrived at a conclusion which is contrary to the facts.
"You (CBI) do not have to go on a wild-goose chase just because you have seen a complex (corporate) structure," Salve told Special CBI Judge O P Saini.
"Facts (given in the charge sheet) are at odd with the final conclusion they (CBI) are arriving at," he said while opposing the framing of charges against them in the case.
On CBI's allegation that clause 8 of the Unified Access Service Licences (UASL) guidelines was violated by the accused, Salve said, "The government has not told the CBI that they are considering it as a breach.
"The owner (DoT) is not complaining. You have not heard any complaint from the DoT.... Has the decision making body, the government has told you about this?"
The CBI, in its charge sheet filed on December 12 last year, had named Essar group promoters Ravi Ruia and Anshuman Ruia and Loop Telecom promoters I P Khaitan and Kiran Khaitan, besides Essar Group Director (Strategy and Planning) Vikash Saraf as accused in the case.
Besides the five persons, three companies Loop Telecom Pvt Ltd, Loop Mobile India Ltd and Essar Teleholdings Ltd are also accused in the case.
The CBI, in its charge sheet, has alleged that the accused had committed offences of cheating and criminal conspiracy for obtaining 2G licences in 2008. (More)
