Bharti Airtel and Essar Group on Tuesday said that they will fight the charge-sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigations based on which the special court issued summons to its key executives.
“The order purporting to take cognizance against Ravi Ruia, in relation to allegations of excess spectrum, is both shocking and surprising,” said a statement from Essar Group.
Clarifying its position, the Essar Group said that it was a minority partner with the Hutchison Group in various companies that were offering mobile telecom services in India.
“Sterling Cellular Ltd was one of these companies. The day-to-day management of all of these companies was effectively in the hands of directors and employees nominated by the Hutchison Group,” it said.
“The CBI investigated this matter threadbare and unsurprisingly, no explanation was sought from Ravi Ruia or anybody else from Essar Group in view of Essar Group’s admittedly minority position in the company. The charge-sheet filed by the CBI also does not even mention Ravi Ruia or any other member of the Essar Group, much less assign any role to them,” the statement said.
Bharti Airtel said it was saddened at the summons being issued to it and to Sunil Mittal. “The Government has on several occasions stated on the floor of the Parliament, even as recently as December 7, 2012, that the additional spectrum granted to all operators and the related spectrum usage charges are as per the policy. The DoT has also filed affidavits before the courts confirming the same,” Airtel said.
The company said that all other telecom operators, including MTNL and BSNL, had also received additional spectrum under the 2002 policy.
“We will fight this charge-sheet against Bharti Airtel and Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Airtel, and a global leader associated with some of the best known institutions of the world and a brand ambassador for India,” the company said.