New Delhi: The 2G court today dismissed the plea of Loop Telecom Ltd for compounding and settlement of the alleged offences of cheating and conspiracy in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case against the company.
Special CBI Judge O.P. Saini rejected the plea for settlement of offences through fines, saying “the application for transfer of cases to Lok Adalat is dismissed”.
Facing trial in the 2G spectrum scam, Loop Telecom had moved the 2G trial court seeking directions for referring the matter to Lok Adalat for “settlement”, saying the offences alleged against them are compoundable.
Lok Adalat is an alternate dispute resolution mechanism to enable parties in civil and compoundable criminal cases to compromise their disputes and settle the case. If the parties concerned fail to reach a compromise, the case is remanded back to the court.
CBI had opposed the plea saying the Supreme Court orders have barred any other court in the country from hearing 2G cases except the special 2G-court and the apex court itself.
Loop Telecom was chargesheeted by Central Bureau of Investigation along with the Essar Group promoters Ravi Ruia and Anshuman Ruia, Loop Telecom promoters Kiran Khaitan, her husband I.P. Khaitan and Essar Group Director (Strategy and Planning) Vikas Saraf and two companies– Loop Mobile India Ltd and Essar Tele Holding Ltd.
CBI had alleged that the accused cheated the government by using Loop Telecom as a “front” to secure 21 2G licences in 2008 during the tenure of former telecom minister A. Raja, who is also facing criminal proceedings in 2G scam case.
Loop Telecom had said in the plea that the request for settlement is without prejudice to their contention that there is no case made out against the company.
“By making this application, the applicant is not admitting any of the allegations made in the charge sheet,” it had said. The company said it was “ready and willing to any fair and reasonable terms for compounding the said offence.”
The charges against the company are of conspiracy to cheat and the offences are compoundable under law, the company said.
