Viom denies reports of wrongdoing in company

Amid reports of financial irregularities, Viom Networks-- a shared passive telecom infrastructure provider-- today denied any wrongdoing in the company even as it hired auditor KPMG to look on the issues.

"Reports have appeared in certain sections of media regarding investigations, which have been ordered by the company's board through KPMG on issues of financial irregularities which had been raised," the company said.

According to a media report, Arun Bansal, Viom's former company secretary, has alleged that the Kanorias of SREI Group had diverted Rs 300 crore (USD 63.6 million) to some private institutions.

Viom Networks Ltd is a joint venture between Tata Teleservices (54 per cent) and Quippo, a SREI Group enterprise hold the rest of the stake.

"The former employees have taken personal grudge  involving the media into this matter. There is nomisappropriation (of funds) at all in any manner whatsoever. The company has followed all procedures in giving out contracts," Hemant Kanoria, a director of Viom Networks, said.

Further, company said these media reports are based on inputs received from former Chief Financial Officer Arun M Bansal and false allegations made by him regarding affairs of the company.

"In the circumstances, it has become necessary for the company to clarify the issue and dispel any wrong impression that may be created owing to false and defamatory statements fed by Arun M Bansal to sections of  media," the spokesperson said.

Viom is an independent entity with over 38,500 towers and around 95,000 tenancies. The company plans to roll-out nearly 20-25,000 additional towers in the next two years

Bansal was the Company Secretary of the company and his services were terminated on July 26, 2011. On investigations, it was found that Bansal had engaged in serious irregularities and misconduct, the spokesperson said.

The company has issued legal notice to Bansal on August 30, 2011 calling upon him, inter alia, to cease and desist from making any defamatory statement intended to defame and disparage the reputation of the company. The company has not received any reply to this legal notice, it added.

"It is obvious that Bansal, being a disgruntled and hostile former employee, has now resorted to feeding the media with false and defamatory allegations in order to defame the company and disparage its reputation," the company said.

It is evident that Bansal has not heeded the legal notice and continue to make totally false and defamatory allegation against the company, and its stake holders, it added.

The company is seeking legal advice to initiate appropriate legal proceeding to contain the spread of such false and defamatory allegations.

"We would like to reiterate that Viom Networks remains committed to the highest standard of corporate governance which is part of their corporate philosophy," it said.