Firms named in espionage scandal fight back

Claim arrest of their execs is illegal, deny any exchange of unofficial cash for information

The companies named in the corporate espionage scandal are fighting back saying arrest of their executives was "illegal" as they were picked up on February 18th for interrogation but the arrest was officially shown only on Friday evening. They denied any exchange of unofficial cash for information saying they paid money only for subscription of a service to former journalist, Santanu Saikia.

"We have noted with concern that one of our employees has been arrested by the authorities.  Essar is a law abiding corporate following a zero tolerance policy towards acts which are against the law of the land. The company reiterates that neither it has directly nor has it authorised anybody to conduct any acts not in compliance with law. We will also launch an internal probe to investigate the matter and in the meanwhile are extending full cooperation to the authorities," said a Essar spokesperson.

While most of the companies are backing their employees arrested by Delhi police, a Jubilant Energy executive said that the official arrested by the crime branch is not an  executive of the company but a liaison officer.

Jubilant Energy is part of the Jubilant Bhartia Group, founded by Shyam Bhartia and Hari Bhartia. The group is also present in pharma, life sciences and healthcare sectors through its flagship company Jubilant Life Sciences.  It also operates the Domino's Pizza chain in India through group company,  Jubilant FoodWorks.

While Essar did not speak officially on the matter, an insider said the arrest of its employee is not legal as the official was picked up on Tuesday and till date no papers were recovered from their employee.  The company official denied any illegal cash payment to Saikia.

Reliance Industries did not make any official comment on the arrest barring the statement earlier which said it has launched a “robust” internal probe on the matter.

A director of an oil company said in many cases, energy companies wish to understand if their files have progressed from one ministry or another or if there is any development on policy decisions. At these times, liaison officers come in handy.

"Being a liaison officer is almost a profession. In many cases, it just gives people a high by being privy to classified information. It is something to brag about in the industry. Some however, also make money," said a retired CMD of a oil company.

A company official said collecting information from government ministries for cash was an open secret. "It is an open secret that executives of private companies are mandated to get these documents and sneak information. In many cases, officials in the internal communication teams are mandated to be liaison officers and seek information from the ministries. In most cases the companies use the information for personal consumption," said a former chairman and managing director of an oil company.