RELIANCE SPLITS: govt relieved

The government heaved a sigh of relief on Saturday’s news that the Ambani brothers have settled their dispute. ‘‘It is a big ...

The government heaved a sigh of relief on Saturday’s news that the Ambani brothers have settled their dispute. ‘‘It is a big relief for all of us,’’ said Prem Chand Gupta, Minister of Company Affairs. ‘‘I am glad the issue has been amicably resolved and that the Reliance board has approved of the way it has been tackled,’’ he said.

In a statement, Reliance has said that its board will ‘‘examine in depth all issues including statutory and legal requirements and suggest a scheme of reorganisation.’’ With this, a fact-finding launched by the Company Affairs Ministry with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) may not be in the front seat any more.

Asked if the government will probe allegations levelled by the two brothers during their seven-month ownership battle, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said, ‘‘I am happy that settlement has been reached. Where is the need for other issues… If there is any specific violation or complaint, we can look into it. (But) after this settlement, I don’t think there is any need for an inquiry.’’

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‘‘The dispute did result in some confusion…We will look into specific queries as and when they come up before us. If the RoC brings up anything, we will address it also like in any other company,’’ added Gupta, who had met with Anil Ambani, who raised issues of corporate governance in the company.

Last year, Anil Ambani had complained that he was being left out of management decisions and ignored by the board. Then, Reliance asserted there were no violations of law. In December, Anil asked why Reliance had made no disclosures to the stock exchanges, Sebi, its board or shareholders if Dhirubhai Ambani, his father, had separated ownership from management in his lifetime. He had also opposed the company’s share buyback plan, besides raising governance issues vis-a-vis RIL’s investments in Infocomm.

Within days, market regulator Sebi asked the stock exchanges to look into corporate governance issues in Reliance.