2G trial: Anil Ambani was not chairman of Swan Capital, says official

Anil Ambani was neither the Director nor the Chairman of Swan Capital Private Ltd which changed its name to Swan Telecom, a top Reliance ADAG official today told a Delhi Court hearing the 2G spectrum case.

Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG)-led Reliance Telecom (RTL) and Swan Telecom has been put on trial by the court which said Swan Telecom was "just a mask" for RTL to secure 2G licences, a charge denied by ADAG.

A N Sethuraman, Group President of Reliance ADA Group, who was deposing as a prosecution witness in connection with the charge framed in the case, said Anil Ambani, Chairman of Reliance ADAG, was not the Chairman or Director of Swan Telecom.

"As per this document (which was shown to Sethuraman), Anil Ambani was not Chairman of M/s Swan Capital (P) Limited in January 2007. He was also not a Director in this company at that time.

"As per my personal knowledge also, he (Anil Ambani) was neither Chairman not Director of Swan Capital (P) Limited. It is also correct that Anil Ambani was neither Chairman nor Director of Swan Telecom (P) Limited," Sethuraman told Special CBI Judge O P Saini.

He said Reliance ADA Group was formed in 2005 under the Chairmanship of Anil Ambani.

Besides RTL and Swan Telecom, three top executives of Reliance ADAG Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair and promoters of Swan Telecom Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka have been put on trial in the 2G case.