Court denies Essar Group promoter Anshuman Ruia permission to travel abroad

Essar Group promoter Anshuman Ruia, facing trial along with others in a case arising out of the 2G scam probe , has been denied permission to travel abroad with a special court rapping him for wasting its time by submitting obscure documents.

Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Judge OP Saini dismissed Ruia's plea in which he had sought permission to travel abroad from June 6 to June 30 for business purposes and certain family commitments on Monday.

The Judge said that names of the countries to be visited by the accused were not mentioned in his application and the court is left to grapple with the itinerary to find out the countries which would be visited by the accused.

Meanwhile, the court allowed a separate application of co-accused Vikash Saraf, Essar Group director (strategy and planning), seeking permission to travel to Dubai from June 15 to June 30 for his work there.

While allowing Saraf's plea, the court noted that the case was not listed for hearing during this period and his presence is not required before it.

However, it cautioned Saraf saying, "It is impressed upon the accused (Saraf) to be careful and vigilant while filing such applications as filing applications full of howlers and bloomers leads not only to embarrassing situations in the court but also results into wastage of precious time of the court."

Essar Group promoters Ravi Ruia and Anshuman, Loop Telecom promoters Kiran Khaitan, her husband IP Khaitan and Saraf are facing trial in the case along with three companies- Loop Telecom, Loop Mobile India and Essar Tele Holding.

The five individual accused, who are out on bail, have denied the charges levelled against them by the CBI.