Monday, March 6 2006 16:50 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Tearing down the arguments of Tatas that as a group they were not promoters of telecom joint venture Idea and hence not obliged to exit the business, Birlas today (Mar 06 2006) urged the government to act fast on its plea, saying non-compliance by Tatas was "grave, wide ranging and comprehensive."

Continuing their tirade against Tatas, Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd (ABNL), informed sources said, has shot off yet another letter to DoT, saying "it is nearing a month since we drew your attention as we believed we were obliged to.

"The consequences to the business of Idea, and to the telecom policy objective that 'competition is not compromise' are serious and pressing. The DoT may please make its determination at the earliest."

In elaborate arguments to counter the position taken by Tatas in their letter to DoT on February 27, Birlas accused their partners of creating a "smoke screen" to conceal the reality and said that "none of the Tata group companies are permitted to have any stake in Idea."

The latest communication, about a week after Tatas sent a termination notice to Birlas for breaching Shareholders Agreement' by their act of making confidential information public, is supported by a number of documents to prove that Tata group was a promoter of Idea and not as claimed otherwise by them.

Tatas comments could not be obtained, even as Birlas said: "Even if Tata Sons (Tatas holding company) alone is named the promoter of Tata Teleservices Licence, it cannot itself have any (direct or indirect) stake in Idea. Tata Sons has a stake in Idea through Tata Industries, which is clearly impermissible."