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Justice M.L. Mehta sought the CBI response by March 13.

Balwa, who was released on bail by a CBI special court, moved the high court to quash the main and supplementary chargesheet filed by the investigating agency against him.

“There is no circumstantial evidences of conspiracy, to be proved either directly or indirectly, against the petitioner, thus, the alleged accused could not be held responsible even for the offences of criminal conspiracy punishable under section 120 B of IPC (Indian Penal Code),” Balwa said.

Seeking discharge from charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the petitioner said: “There is no evidence on record to prove these facts that the accused had obtained for himself or for any other person any valuable things or pecuniary advantage.”

Balwa, along with other accused, was booked under penal provisions related to criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating and forgery. He was also booked under the anti-corruption law.

The court framed additional charges against him under penal provisions for giving false evidence and criminal conspiracy for creating false documents to show as loan transaction the Rs.200 crore allegedly paid to the DMK-run Kalaignar TV.

The matter has been listed for March 17.

The defense counsel of Ravi Ruia and Anshuman Ruia, a promoter of the Essar group, told special CBI judge O.P. Saini that they were outside India. The defense counsel of the two other accused, Loop Telecom promoters I.P. Khaitan and Kiran Khaitan, moved the application of exemption on health grounds.

CBI did not oppose the application of exemption moved by all four accused in 2G scam.

The court granted exemption to all four accused and directed them to appear on the next date of hearing.

Meanwhile, Viaks Saraf of the Essar group moved his bail application which the court has listed for March 17.

According to reports, I.P. Khaitan, Kiran Khaitan, Anshuman Ruia and Ravi Ruia sought exemption from attending the apex court proceedings scheduled for today.

Essar''s Director for strategy and planning Vikas Saraf, however, appeared before the apex court bench.

The Supreme Court had last week refused to grant an interim stay on summons issued against Loop Telecom and the Essar Group.

The two telecom firms have maintained in their petitions that charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy levelled against them as per provisions of the Indian penal Code (IPC) should be heard by a magistrate and not by a special court constituted under the Prevention of Corruption Act to hear the 2G case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has accused both promoters of criminal conspiracy.

“All operators and potential new entrants should be allowed to enter the auction. This will ensure the most efficient allocation of spectrum and is necessary to derive a fair market price,” Vodafone said, responding to the pre-consultation paper issed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on allocation of spectrum in 2G band in 22 service areas by auction.

The Supreme Court has ordered cancellation of 122 telecom licences issued in 2008 and has asked the government to conduct an auction of the spectrum which is to be freed.

Uninor, a joint venture between Oslo-based Telenor and India’s Unitech has proposed that the auction should take place only among those players who were given the licences in 2008 and also the new ones but should restrict the older players.

Telenor has committed an investment of $3 billion in India and following the apex court’s order, also hinted at plans to exit, saying it would decide to bid after reviewing various criteria, including the reserve price for spectrum.

All of Uninor’s 22 licences stand cancelled following the apex court’s verdict.

Vodafone has however said that it would not be logical to restrict the auction among the parties which acquired the spectrum in 2008.

The operator has also said that all available spectrum in the band — both returned and that currently unallocated — should be made available in the forthcoming auction in order to facilitate better service at cheaper costs.

“Unused spectrum brings no use to consumers. Spectrum to the mobile industry will bring cheaper data and voice services to more people, increase productivity and support other industries, and reduce the need for additional base stations,” it said.

A bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya, however, rejected the plea of the two service providers to suspended the proceedings against them before the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court. The petitioners had sought interim stay of the proceedings against them.

Senior counsel Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the two firms, pleaded that the special CBI court of Justice O.P. Saini did not have the jurisdiction to take cognisance against their clients,

“I can’t appear before a court which has no jurisdiction,” Rohatgi told the apex court.

the court said that it will hear the matter and if it found that the special court lacked jurisdiction, then it will quash the proceedings against them.

The court was told that Special CBI judge Saini had listed the matter for hearing on Feb 22.

The petitioner companies, their counsel said, had also opposed the notification issued by the central government setting up the special court which said that it would hear all the matters connected with 2G scam.

At the very outset of the hearing, the court pointed out that petitioner companies have not impleaded the original petitioner, CPIL and others as respondent. It gave the counsel for petitioner companies a week’s time to include them as respondents.

The court said that the notices were returnable in two weeks.

“Merger up to 35 percent market share of the resultant entity will be allowed through a simple, quick procedure,” Communications Minister Kapil Sibal said, reading out the changes in policies governing licences, spectrum and merger norms.

Sibal said that all players would henceforth need to stick to the prescribed limit on spectrum and that mergers beyond 35 percent would be allowed only in cases where it did not violate this limit.

The Supreme Court has ordered revocation of 122 licences issued in 2008 affecting a few foreign players such as Olso-based Telenor, the parent firm of Uninor, Russian Sistema which has a joint venture with Shyam Group and runs its India operations under the MTS brand, and Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat, which has 45 percent stake in Indian telecom firm Etisalat DB.

Many of the affected players have hinted at exiting from their India businesses that would lead to a consolidation in the industry.

The minister said that all future licences will be unified licences and allocation of spectrum will be de-linked from the licence.

“Spectrum, if required, will have to be obtained separately,” Sibal said and added that 2G spectrum sharing will be permitted but in the same licence service area and the licences will be renewed after 10 years.

Also, licence fee will not be uniform across all telecom licences and service areas, and will be made equal to eight percent of the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) in two yearly steps starting from 2012-13.

Service providers will also be allowed to share 2G spectrum. But the minister ruled out any possibility of allowing the same for 3G spectrum sharing.

The apex court bench headed by Justice G.S. Singhvi, however, rejected the plea of the two service providers to suspend the proceedings against them before the special CBI court.

When senior counsel Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi pleaded that the special CBI court of Justice O.P. Saini did not have the jurisdiction to take cognizance against them, the court said that it will hear the matter and if it found that the special court lacked jurisdiction, then it will quash the proceedings against them.

The court said that the notices were returnable in two weeks.

The companies withdrew the plea as they have moved the Supreme Court over the issue.

The division bench of Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice V.K. Jain allowed the companies to withdraw the case and said: “Writ petition is dismissed as withdrawn.”

The high court had earlier asked Essar Teleholdings, Loop Telecom and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to seek a clarification from the apex court whether it could proceed with the hearing on their petition.

No case other than the one filed under the anti-corruption law could be heard by the trial court judge as it was beyond his jurisdiction, said counsel appearing for a company.

The petitioners contended that their case could be tried by a magistrate as there was no corruption charge against them, but the special judge relied upon an administrative order issued by the high court.

The high court passed an administrative order by which the special court was constituted March 15 last year to exclusively hear the 2G case.

The third set of formal charges filed by the CBI in the case also said that the offences alleged against the companies could be tried by a magistrate as they had not been chargesheeted under the Prevention of Corruption Act, said counsel for one of the companies.

The CBI Dec 12, 2011 filed a third charge sheet against Loop promoters and the Essar Group for criminal conspiracy and cheating.

The fresh set of charges contended that the Essar Group used Loop as a front company to acquire telecom licences in 2008. Essar, which already had a 33 percent stake in Vodafone, held substantial equity in Loop and thus violated telecom licence norms, the charge sheet said.

Dismissing the petition, Justice M.L. Mehta said: “I fail to appreciate as to how any witness would be in fear or under pressure of investigating officer in the court room.”

Mere presence of the investigating officer in the court room at the time of recording of statement of the witnesses would not be a ground to say that the trial will not be fair, the court observed.

The duo had moved the Delhi High Court demanding that the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) investigating officer should be barred from attending the trial as the officer, himself a witness in the case, could not remain present in court when the statements of other witnesses were being recorded.

Appearing for the petitioners, advocate Vijay Aggarwal had argued: “During the trial, the investigating officer, himself a witness in the case, cannot remain present in court when the statements of other witnesses is being recorded.”

Earlier, the CBI special court had also rejected the plea.

The CBI has charged Balwa and Aggarwal, directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd, of routing Rs.200 crore as bribe to Kalaignar TV, in which DMK MP Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar, both co-accused in the 2G scam, and DMK chief M. Karunanidhi’s wife Dayalu Ammal hold 20, 20 and 60 percent stake, respectively.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday held a crucial meeting on the 2G spectrum issue in the wake of the apex court cancelling 122 licences, and the matter taking a diplomatic turn with some of the countries having expressed concern over the future of investments by their countries’ companies here.

The meeting held at the Prime Minister’s official residence was attended by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal and Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati. The prime minister has sought Vahanvati’s opinion on the Supreme Court verdict.

“The purpose of this exercise was only to inform the prime minister and the group about the salient features of the judgment and its consequences and implications and the basis on which the judgment has been rendered,” Sibal told reporters after almost an hour long meeting.

“It was an exercise for informing the group. We were not required, nor did we seek any decisions from the prime minister or the group. That was not the intent of the exercise,” he added.

Norway has voiced its concern over investments of its telecom firm Telenor and even Russian Communications Minister Igor Shchyogolev is expected to visit India shortly to take up the issue with the Indian government.

Oslo-based telecom firm Telenor, which operates under the brand name Uninor, stands to lose all its licences following the apex court’s order while Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. (SSTL), a joint venture between Russia’s Sistema and India’s Shyam Group, loses 21 of its 22 licences.

Bahrain-based Batelco has already announced its exit from India, selling its stake in mobile firm STel.

STel, which had acquired licences to operate in six circles including Odisha, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh, is a joint venture between Batelco and Sky City Foundation, owned by former Aircel promoter and serial entrepreneur C. Sivasankaran.

The government has to complete the entire exercise of framing the guidelines for the auctioning of the cancelled 2G licences within four months given by the apex court.

The apex court verdict had held that the first-come-first-serve policy, pursued by then communications minister A.Raja, was flawed and had resulted in revenue loss to the state exchequer. The court favoured auctioning of the 2G licences.