Court summons Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal, Essar promoter Ravi Ruia and ex-Vodafone CEO Asim Ghosh

Telecom Lead India: A Delhi court has summoned Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, Essar Group promoter Ravi Ruia and Asim Ghosh, former CEO of Vodafone Essar, in the additional spectrum allocation case.

They need to present in the court on April 11.

Read what CBI said earlier in the additional spectrum allocation case

The development is significant as the Court has now asked top bosses to present for clarifying their stand. In most of the earlier occasions, operatorsā€™ lawyers / representatives / executives used to attend court hearings.

Last week, TelecomLead.com suggested that there should be clarity in such cases since these involve the presence of large companies such as Vodafone, Airtel, etc. and their promoters or CEOs.

On Tuesday, according to agency reports, the court took cognisance of a CBI chargesheet filed against Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and others for alleged irregularities in the allocation of additional spectrum during the NDA regime.

On 21 December, the CBI had filed a chargesheet accusing former telecom secretary Shyamal Ghosh and Bharti Cellular , Hutchison Max (Vodafone India) and Sterling Cellular (Vodafone Mobile Service ).

In the 57-page chargesheet, the CBI had booked all the accused for the offences of criminal conspiracy (120-B) of the IPC and under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

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