The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has asked G.E. Vahanvati, attorney general of India, for an opinion of its scrutiny of the Essar Group’s shareholding in Loop Telecom. Thereafter, the agency will decide whether to file a charge sheet in the case or not.
The agency had approached Vahanvati after the Department of Prosecution (DoP), its legal department, differed with its findings on the cross-holding of shares of the Essar Group in Loop Telecom, contending that there was no basis for a case against it.
DoP?s opinion matched that given by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, which had cleared the Essar Group, saying that its shareholding pattern was 2.15 per cent, less than the mandatory 10 per cent.
Meanwhile, the CBI has alleged that the cross-holding of shares of the Essar Group in Loop Telecom was 10 per cent.
The Registrar of Companies (Mumbai) (RoC) had said, “The Essar Group, directly or indirectly, held only 2.15 per cent of Loop Telecom as on September 3, 2007, the date on which the application was made to DoT for a UAS licence”.
The RoC?s letter also said that the documents of the company do not substantiate the associate relationship between the Essar Group and the Khaitan Group, as alleged.
