CORPORATE PRESS RELEASES (INDIA) news desk
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204661604577186651376197384.html
New Delhi, January 27,2012
By R. JAI KRISHNA
NEW DELHI – An Indian court has ordered Anshuman Ruia and Ravikant Ruia of the Essar group and two founders of the Loop group to be present before it on Feb. 22, as they didn’t appear in the court Friday to face charges of conspiracy and cheating in a case of alleged rigging of a 2008 sale of telecom licenses and bandwidth.
The two Essar group founders and Loop’s Kiran Khaitan and her husband Ishwari Prasad Khaitan didn’t appear before the special court set up to hear the case, saying the earlier summons weren’t issued to them as per procedure and that they don’t live and work in India.
Kiran Khaitan is Ravikant Ruia’s sister. All of them live in Dubai.
The Loop group owns Loop TelecomPvt. Ltd. According to the Central Bureau of Investigation, Loop Telecom and the Essar group, and some of their founders, benefited from the alleged irregularities in the sale. According to the probe agency, the companies have created a “complex corporate veil” to conceal that Essar, with substantial shares in a telecom firm, also had a more than a 10% holding in Loop Telecom, which was against rules of cross ownership.
The agency had also named Essar group Director Vikash Saraf, who appeared in the special court Friday through his lawyer.
Judge O.P. Saini said before proceeding with any coercive action, one more attempt would be made to serve the summons to the four.
After the court’s order, both Essar and Loop issued separate statements saying they were in full compliance of all rules, and have cooperated with the investigation.
Essar has separately moved the Delhi High Court, challenging the special court’s jurisdiction to try the group, saying the charges against it weren’t for corruption. The high court is scheduled to hear the case on Feb. 16.
Write to R. Jai Krishna at krishna.jai@dowjones.com
========================
