On Anil’s complaint, Reliance gets a notice from the Govt

After quietly observing the flurry of charges at the Rs 99,000-crore Reliance group for seven months now, the government has finally taken a...

After quietly observing the flurry of charges at the Rs 99,000-crore Reliance group for seven months now, the government has finally taken action by asking the Registrar of Companies (RoC) to issue notice to the group, headed by Mukesh Ambani, on complaints filed by younger brother Anil.

‘‘We have asked the RoC to give a notice to Reliance,’’ Company Affairs Secretary Komal Anand told reporters when asked about the action being taken by the Ministry on complaints filed by Anil.

She, however, did not elaborate on the details in the notice to be served by RoC, which is under administrative control of the Ministry, and what was the nature of the specific complaints made by Anil.

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During the over seven-month-old public wrangling with Mukesh, the younger Ambani had on many occasions raised the issues of corporate governance and absence of financial information and disclosures in group companies. Anil had directly accused directors close to his elder brother Mukesh Ambani for creating a rift between them and not keeping shareholders informed.

Late last month, despite serving as vice-chairman and managing director, Anil had declined to sign the financial accounts of the group’s flagship company Reliance Industries Ltd and had made public his dissent at the board meeting on April 27.

Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar in New Delhi, Anand said a report on the issue is expected to be completed within a week. Anand’s comments come within a week of Company Affairs Minister P C Gupta stating that government was not sleeping over the issue and would take appropriate action.

This is in sharp contrast to statements late last year when Gupta firmly turned down the probe into various charges against the group.

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Expressing concern over developments in the Reliance group, Gupta had said on Monday, “Government has to do its job. We are concerned with all developments taking place. We have received complaints from Anil Ambani.”

‘‘We are not sleeping over the matter. We know what we have to do. We are getting feedback (on Reliance developments) from Registrar of Companies,’’ Gupta had said.

Incidentally, market regulator Sebi had said it would take appropriate action on complaints filed by Anil. ‘‘We have received certain letters from the company’s vice chairman and managing director (Anil Ambani). We are acting on those letters… We will do whatever is necessary,’’ Sebi chairman M Damodaran had said, adding “We know about those issues and we know how to address those issues. We have started looking at those issues.’’

Later, Company Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta said anything concrete on the issue can be said only after the RoC submitted its report. ‘‘Once we have the report, then we can comment on the matter,’’ Gupta said.