The pleas of the two firms that they cannot be tried by the special CBI court as they were not charged with any offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act, could not be heard today as the bench slated to hear them did not sit.

A bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and V K Jain will now take up the matter on January 10.

Indicted by the CBI in its third charge sheet in the 2G case for cheating and criminal conspiracy, the two telecom firms have contended in their pelas to the high court that

Special CBI Judge O P Saini was empowered to hear only the cases lodged under the provisions of the PC Act.

Earlier, the Special CBI court had taken cognisance of the third charge sheet and asked the promoters of Essar group and Loop Telecom to appear before it on January 27.

The CBI, in its charge sheet filed on December 12, has accused the Essar and Loop promoters of conspiring to cheat the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) but has not found evidence to prosecute them under the PC Act.