Has to appear after July 26th, however.
By R. Chandrasekaran
CHENNAI: Business tycoon and Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group chairman Anil Ambani has been exempted from a personal appearance tomorrow in the 2G spectrum allocation issue that has been haunting the nation for over three years now, by Delhi High Court.
Ambani had pleaded for exemption of personal appearance before the Special CBI Judge O P Saini, citing short period of notice since he got the summons only on July 23rd. He had pointed out that he had pre-scheduled and pre-committed business engagements forcing him to seek exemption to appear before the court only for July 26th. However, he offered to present himself before the Judge on any day after August 15th.
The judge admitted his plea and allowed his exemption for personal appearance only for tomorrow, July 26th.
Ambani has been issued summons to testify before the court as a prosecution witness on whether the companies have won 2G spectrum licenses out of turn. Though there were no charges against him directly, three of his group company’s executives at Reliance Communications have been charged of using a front company to buy more than their eligible quota of licenses and frequency. The three executives served jail terms for close to seven months in 2011.
The 2G case has already cost the job of A. Raja as communications minister in 2010. There were at least three companies and 14 officials who were charged of conspiracy to win over the licenses and frequency. This apart, DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi was also jailed for her alleged role in the allocation of 2G licenses.
Separately, Anil Ambani and his wife Tina Ambani approached the Supreme Court praying for their exclusion in personal appearance. However, the Supreme Court declined an urgent plea of hearing the petition of Reliance Telecom Ltd. that sought to challenge the summoning of Anil and Tina.
However, the apex court has posted for hearing on Monday the application of Reliance Telecom before a special bench that is hearing 2G scam matters.
To contact the author, email to rchandrasekaran@americanbazaaronline.com