THE LATEST round of trouble between the Ambani brothers has reached Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. The minister is learnt to have given Anil Ambani a patient hearing when the latter met him on Monday.
At the heart of the matter is the irrevocable power of attorney (PoA) that the Mukesh Ambani-owned RIL had given Anil’s Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) as part of the June 18, 2005 settlement scripted by their mother Kokilaben. The PoA enables the share transfer of the four new entities as part of the Mumbai HC's December 9, 2005 demerger order.
Trouble began on Friday when the RIL allegedly tried to prevent the ADAG from implementing the PoA. ADAG wrote to JM Morgan Stanley Financial Services PVT Ltd (Depository Participant) stating that the request by transferor companies to rematerialise shares under PoA to the ADAG is in bad faith, malafide.
It further said that the request was meant to defeat the PoA granted by the transferor companies in acceptance of their obligation to transfer the shares to ADAG.
ADAG alleges that RIL has tried to stop the share transfer by getting the demat shares converted into physical form. An ADAG spokesperson said, “if the shares had got converted to physical form, the POAs would have become useless, because the share certificates would have vested with RIL.”
{{/usCountry}}ADAG alleges that RIL has tried to stop the share transfer by getting the demat shares converted into physical form. An ADAG spokesperson said, “if the shares had got converted to physical form, the POAs would have become useless, because the share certificates would have vested with RIL.”
{{/usCountry}}A barrage of legal notices followed to Mukesh Ambani owned companies, JM Financial and Karvy Consultants warning of criminal proceedings if the shares were converted. Signed by Satish Seth and Gautam Doshi, the letters say: