The Delhi high court on Wednesday stayed the trial court proceedings against senior Congress leader P Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate.
A Delhi court on Saturday took cognisance of the chargesheets filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate against former Union minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti in the Aircel-Maxis case and summoned them on December 20.
The company said that intense competition following the disruptive entry of a new player, legal and regulatory challenges, high level of unsustainable debt and increased losses had together caused significant "negative business and reputational impact".
Action is hotting up in the telecom space, with Russian giant Sistema in preliminary discussions with Aircel to pick up an equity stake.
It is understood that the agency wanted to put a fresh set of questions to him regarding the deal and hence had asked him to appear.
If convicted, the offences entail a maximum punishment of seven years.
Aircel needs Team Leaders and Sales Executives for its offices in Chennai.
P Chidambaram's son Karti was arrested on February 28 at the Chennai airport on his return from the United Kingdom, for his alleged role in facilitating Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance for INX Media Ltd. and its directors, Peter and Indrani Mukerjea.
The ED said that Chidambaram has remained evasive and therefore grant of pre-arrest bail at this stage would be highly detrimental to the investigation.
The tribunal accepted the government's argument that licence or spectrum is a state asset over which Aircel had no right of ownership.
The CBI and the ED said that new material has been recovered which needs to be collated.
Special Judge O P Saini took strong objection to the agencies seeking repeated adjournments.
RCom and Aircel will hold 50 per cent each in the new company
The ED had filed the first chargesheet in the case against Chidambaram's son Karti; later, a supplementary chargesheet was also filed against him.
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The agency had "almost finished" its probe into the matter, which involved Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader and former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, an official said.
Karti granted interim protection from arrest till July 10 .
Sterling Infotech Group and Hutchison Essar Group have terminated the agreement, which contemplated acquisition of Sterling's Aircel and Aircel Cellular by Aircel Digilink India, a part of the Hutch Group.
Telecom services provider Aircel announced its partnership with Apollo Hospitals to provide interactive healthcare services on mobile phones to users across the country.
Chidambaram's son Karti has been questioned twice by the ED in this case.
The court, which pronounced the judgment in a packed courtroom, also said that Karti shall not leave the country without its permission.
Introduces two new plans for prepaid mobile users.
The agency recorded his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act with some specific queries on the circumstances and procedures adopted by the now-defunct Foreign Investment Promotion Board while giving approval to the Aircel-Maxis deal during his tenure.
They were chargesheeted for alleged offences punishable under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC and under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
He was chargesheeted for the offences punishable under section 120-B
Cellular service provider Aircel will embark on an over $400-million pan-India network expansion to double its subscriber base of 5 million over 18 to 24 months.
The telecom industry is moving towards a five-plus one model.
The sources said the matter should have been referred to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs as foreign investments above Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion) can only be cleared by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs headed by the Prime Minister.
Former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanithi Maran and four others were on Friday chargesheeted by the Enforcement Directorate in the Special 2G court.
Reliance Communications' tower business Reliance Infratel is likely to enter into an end-to-end telecom infrastructure agreement with Aircel for towers, voice carriage and bulk bandwidth worth about $300 million.
Aircel executives said the company could offer value to big boys like Airtel or Jio as a low-end mobile services brand
Aircel Ltd, a unit of Malaysia's Maxis Communications Bhd, will invest about $500 million in the next three years to expand coverage in India.
When it comes to the number of phone bill disputes, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, BSNL and Aircel were high on the list in several service areas during the quarter ended June.
Cellphone service provider Aircel Televentures on Friday said it was evaluating various offers from Indian and overseas telecom firms including a Russian firm which has offered to buy its 49 per cent stake.
Karti, through his lawyer, has refused to appear before the agency saying a special court had discharged all the accused in the matter.
The plan available for Rs 99 would allow users to make local calls at Rs 1 for the first minute, 60 paise for the second minute and 40 paise for the third minute onwards. Aircel, a part of Malaysia's Maxis Communication, is India's fifth largest GSM mobile service provider with 17 million users.
Former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanidhi Maran and six others, including four companies, were on Friday chargesheeted by the CBI in a special court in the Aircel-Maxis deal case arising out of the investigation in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
RCom and Aircel have permits for 3G services in 13 out of 22 service areas while Tata Teleservices has permit in 9 circles.
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