Court rejects Loop's plea to refer matter to Lok Adalat

A court here Thursday dismissed a plea filed by Loop Telecom seeking directions for referring the case against it to the Lok Adalat.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge O.P. Saini dismissed the plea after going through the reply filed by investigating agency and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

The CBI had opposed the plea while DoT said that it would abide by the court order.

The court said that the case does not appear to be fit to be referred to Lok Adalat.

Loop Telecom Ltd filed a plea seeking the court's direction for referring the matter to the Lok Adalat, a system of alternative dispute resolution that focuses on compromise between two parties for settlement, saying the offences alleged against the firm were compoundable.

The two firms are facing charges of criminal conspiracy for cheating the DoT. A third set of charges filed by the CBI 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 firm.