New Delhi, Dec 21 (IANS): A special CBI court here Wednesday took cognisance of the third set of charges filed in the 2G case alleging criminal conspiracy and cheating by three more firms and five people, including some promoters of the Essar Group. It also asked the five accused to appear before it Jan 27 next year.

Central Bureau of Investigation Special Judge O.P. Saini said: "Cognisance is taken on the charge sheet and summon has been issued to the accused for Jan 27."

The court issued summons to all the five individuals -- Essar Group's Anshuman Ruia, Ravikant Ruia and Vikash Saraf and promoters of Loop Ishwari Prasad Khaitan and Kiran Khaitan, to appear in court Jan 27.

The court also issued summons to three telecom companies - Essar Teleholdings, Loop Telecom and Loop Mobile India.

The number of individuals accused in the case has risen to 19, while the companies against which charges have been framed add up to six.

The fresh set of charges alleged that Essar Group used Loop as a front company to acquire telecom licences in 2008. Essar, which already had a 33 percent stake in Vodafone, held substantial equity in Loop and thus violated telecom licence norms, the charge sheet said.

The licences to Loop were given during the tenure of former communications minister A. Raja, who is in Tihar Jail under judicial custody, as the prime accused in the case. The firm secured licences for 21 circles for around Rs.1,450 crore.