Essar’s Ruia to face fresh CBI grilling today
12 May 2011
Essar Group chief executive Prashant Ruia is slated to appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation today for a second round of questioning in connection with the 2G spectrum scam.
Ruia, who was supposed to appear before the CBI for questioning on Wednesday, sought more time from the agency on personal grounds.
The questioning is likely to focus on Essar's connection with Loop Telecom, which got unified access service (UAS) licences for 21 circles in January 2008. Loop is alleged by investigating authorities to be a front company for Essar. The CBI had registered a case against it in 2009.
Indian rules prohibit a telecom company from owning more than 10 per cent in another telecom company.
Essar, which has a (now troubled) joint venture with Vodafone for mobile services in the country, would be in violation of this rule if it is found to own more than the threshold limit in Loop Telecom.
However, Essar has claimed that its stake in Loop at the time of application of 2G licenses was only 2.15 per cent, and subsequently it came down to 1.5 per cent.
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