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CBI opposes summoning of Ambani in Wadia case
The CBI had recorded Mukesh Ambani’s statement in 1990 itself, and in which the RIL chairman had denied any knowledge of the alleged conspiracy to kill industrialist Nusli Wadia in 1989
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday opposed the summoning of Mukesh Ambani to court in the case relating to the conspiracy to kill industrialist cin 1989.
One of the accused, Ivan Sequeira, who had allegedly been hired to fire at Wadia, wanted Mukesh Ambani to be examined as a witness in the ongoing case. The CBI filed an affidavit on Thursday opposing Sequeira’s plea. In its reply to the special court the CBI contended it had closed the case in February this year, and had informed the court that it did not wish to examine any more witnesses. Further, the CBI claimed it is not the prerogative of the accused to ask the prosecution to examine any particular person as witness. That prerogative, the CBI said, was the prosecution’s alone.
On Thursday, Sequeira did not turn up before the court for the scheduled hearing of the case. His lawyer too said that they were withdrawing their services as they do not wish to represent Sequeira any longer.
The next hearing on Sequeira’s plea is scheduled for August 1.
The case dates back to 1989 when Kirti Ambani, a senior executive at Reliance Industries Limited, Sequeira and two others--Arjun Babaria and Ramesh Jagothia--were booked by Mumbai police for conspiring to kill Nusli Wadia over business rivalry. That same year, investigation was transferred to the CBI. However, the trial began only in 2003, 14 years after the first FIR was filed.
The CBI had recorded Mukesh Ambani’s statement in 1990 itself, and in which the RIL chairman had denied any knowledge of the alleged conspiracy, and said that he came to know about the alleged plot only after Kirti Ambani’s arrest. Kirti Ambani was an employee and is not related to the Ambani family.
Nusli Wadia’s deposition was recorded in June 2016 wherein he spoke about the then business rivalry between the two groups, and told the investigators that he too found out about the conspiracy to kill him after the accused had been arrested. Following a plea by Kirti Ambani, the special court had restrained the media from publishing details about the rivalry between the two business groups.
