Ambani war of words gets shrill

The battle between the Ambani brothers "" Mukesh and Anil "" over the transfer of ownership of the four new companies carved out of Reliance Industries today turned murkier as both the camps traded new charges.

Sources in the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) claimed that the group had sent letters to Mukesh Ambani companies, JM Morgan Stanley Financial and Karvy Consultants warning them of criminal proceedings if the shares of the four companies were converted into physical forms.

They said two directors of group companies "" Gautam Doshi and Satish Seth "" had shot off letters threatening criminal procedure against the Mukesh Ambani firms and the depository participants.

The re-materialisation of shares of these four companies "" Reliance Energy Ventures, Reliance Capital Ventures, Reliance Communications Ventures and Reliance Natural Resources Ltd "" would mean that the ADAG would lose control over them, ADAG sources said. An e-mail to Nimesh Kampani, chairman of JM Financial Group, seeking his comment elicited no response.

Reliance Industries sources denied the charges. They added: "A closer scrutiny of the letters sent by ADAG executives to various companies including the DPs and registrars will point out that the allegation is baseless. In the letters, the ADAG officials said they understood that Mukesh Ambani group initiated such actions. They were not certain. How could they make such allegations without being sure of the facts?" they asked.

Reliance Industries insiders claimed that one of the ADAG companies had received excess shares.

They alleged that an ADAG firm, Lazor Syntex Pvt Ltd, had "fraudulently" received 47.64 lakh shares of the four new entities, though this company (Lazor Syntex) had filed power of attorney with Karvy Stock Broking for transfer of 13.49 lakh shares.

When asked, an ADAG spokesperson said: "The allegation of excess transfer of shares is baseless. In totality, we have received transfer of shares, representing 24 per cent stake in each of these companies, while we are supposed to get 37 per cent stake in each of them."

According to ADAG insiders, the Mukesh Ambani group tried to get physical possession of the shares.

"As per the settlement norms, the Mukesh Ambani group had given irrevocable power of attorney to ADAG, to enable transfer of shares of these companies. If the shares had got converted to physical format, the power of attorney would have become useless, because the share certificates would have stayed with the Mukesh Ambani group," they said.