New Delhi:
Supreme Court will, on Tuesday, hear a petition filed by Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Telecom challenging a trial court's order summoning him and his wife as prosecution witnesses in the 2G spectrum scam case.
A Delhi court had, last week, ruled that Mr Ambani as well as his wife Tina will have to testify as witnesses in the telecom case. There are no charges against the Ambanis.
Mr Ambani is chairman of the Anil Dhirubhai Amabani Group; three senior executives from his telecom firm, Reliance Telecom Limited were arrested in 2011 for allegedly using another company called Swan Telecom to get licenses and frequency beyond their permissible quota. All accused have denied wrongdoing.
Arguing against the lower court's order, the defence counsel had, in the petition to the top court, said, "The 2G trial is almost complete and at this stage summoning him won't serve any purpose."
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is investigating the scam that centres on whether mobile network licenses and accompanying second-generation airwaves were given at sweetheart deals to ineligible companies in 2008 by A Raja, who was then Telecom Minister.
Last week, the CBI said in court that Mr Ambani, as a prosecution witness, can help explain the actions of his executives, Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair, who are on bail.
The agency also said that Mrs Ambani presided over meetings where key decisions related to Swan Telecom were taken.
The promoters of Swan, Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, were also arrested in 2011 and were later granted bail.