95 witnesses examined in 2G case against Essar, Loop promoters

A court Friday concluded the process of examining prosecution witnesses, totalling 95, in the 2G spectrum case against Essar and Loop Telecom promoters, who face charges of criminal conspiracy for cheating the department of telecommunications (DoT).

Statements of 95 people running into 1,056 pages have been recorded by the special court here.

"I close prosecution evidence," senior public prosecutor K.K. Goel told Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge O.P. Saini after concluding the recording of the statement of a investigating officer who was part of the probe team.

The court will record statements of the accused from Feb 20.

It will also take up the plea filed by Loop Telecom seeking directions for referring the matter to the Lok Adalat on Feb 20. The court Dec 16 issued notice to the CBI and the department of telecommunications (DoT) seeking their response.

A third set of charges filed by the CBI in the 2G case alleged that promoters of the Essar Group were the real investors and beneficiaries of the spectrum and licenses issued to Loop Telecom, which was used as a front company by Essar to acquire 2G licenses and spectrum in 2008.

This has been denied by the accused.

In an separate case against former communications minister A. Raja and others, the court has concluded the recording of prosecution evidence Nov 28. Statements of 153 people running into 4,400 pages have been recorded by the court.