2G scam: CBI may file charge sheet against Essar officials; Attorney General endorses CBI probe into Essar-Loop case

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI) is likely to charge promoters of the Essar group, their relatives and their employees within the next ten days for cheating and criminal conspiracy, an official in the agency told ET on the condition of anonymity.

The CBI move comes close on the heels of the endorsement of its investigations by the top law officer of the country, Goolam Vahanvati who sent his opinion on the issue to the law ministry on Wednesday.

Vahanvati is believed to have stated that he agreed with the opinion of CBI director, AP Singh that the investigation has "unearthed a prima facie criminal case for proceeding further" against the persons concerned who "suppressed facts" pertaining to the ownership of Loop telecom.

Law minister Salman Khurshid confirmed that the opinion has been received by his ministry but declined further comment on the matter. The matter reached the Attorney General after the prosecution wing of the CBI and its investigating team differed on core aspects of the case.

The theory advanced by the investigating officers, is that Loop - which the agency alleges is part of the Essar Group - obtained telecom licences which they were not entitled to as the Ruia-controlled Group also owned 33% of Vodaofone-Essar.

India's telecom regulations prohibit any entity from owning more than 10% in two telecom companies.

The CBI's prosecution wing argued that even if Loop was controlled by Essar, it amounted at best to a civil offence.

The Essar Group has maintained that they have always been in compliance with telecom guidelines and that they do not control Loop. Their stand has been endorsed by a number of judges and senior lawyers who have given legal opinions in their favour.

It is unclear whether the CBI would also charge public servants, such as former telecom minister A Raja, former telecom secretary S Behura and the department former legal adviser Santokh Singh, since the CBI director, AP Singh, is believed to have agreed with the opinion of the head of its prosecution wing, Abdul Aziz, that there was no case against the government officials in this matter.

If there are no charges against the government officials, the charges against the Ruias could be filed in a court separate from the CBI special court which is hearing the 2G matter. This could enable those charged to get bail more easily.

"The AG's opinion endorses the CBI director's view that there is a violation of licence conditions. But there is no link to the 2G scam or to Raja and no public servants are involved," a person close to the Essar Group said.

The CBI manual states that in case of disagreement, the matter may be referred to the AG. However, according to a Supreme Court judgement, the AG can only opine on issues where there is disagreement. Therefore, Vahanvati has not given an opinion on whether a case is made out against government officials as well and a final call on this will be taken by the head of CBI.

Aziz, the head of the prosecution wing, was caught up in a controversy when it emerged that his son was an Essar employee since 2009. Aziz subsequently wrote to the CBI director stating that his opinion on the Essar issue not be considered, a senior official in the law ministry told ET.

Vahanvati is believed to have rubbished Aziz's opinion stating that the director of prosecution (Aziz) did not consider the "detailed analysed facts" brought on record and has taken a rather "superficial and broad view of the entire matter." He is also believed to have stated that Aziz "seems to have accepted the contours of Essar's defence to be correct" without subjecting the same "to any scrutiny particularly with reference to materials which have been unearthed during investigations."