Delhi HC directive to CBI on RIL 'irregularities'

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, AUG. 24. The Delhi High Court today asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to submit to it a copy of a note which it had sent to the Union Finance Ministry, seeking its permission to initiate probe into alleged irregularities in the investment of Rs.945 crores in the equities of the Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) by the Unit Trust of India (UTI), the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and the General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC) in 1996.

In a reply to a public interest litigation (PIL) petition by the Janata Party president, Mr. Subramanian Swamy, seeking inquiry into various alleged financial irregularities by the RIL, the CBI told the court that in reply to its request, the Finance Ministry said that ``registration of a regular case for further investigation did not seem to be warranted.''

The CBI, in an affidavit, said it re-examined the note in the light of the reply by the Ministry and various other documents sent therewith. The matter was further taken up with the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Department of Company Affairs which categorically informed that neither the SEBI guidelines nor the Company Act had been violated.

The affidavit said that the Chief Vigilance Officer of the UTI, after an inquiry, had also nothing adverse to say about the Mutual Fund's investment in the RIL. The LIC and the GIC had followed the UTI's line in the matter.

Counsel for the Finance Ministry submitted that the Ministry had sent a letter to the CBI and the same would be placed before the court for perusal.

The court ordered that the two reports be submitted by September 29.

Referring to a recent statement made by the Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, in Parliament, Mr. Swamy submitted that the CBI's note and the Ministry's reply to it had established that the Union Government had blocked a probe into the alleged irregularities.

In reply to a separate PIL by Mr. Swamy alleging diversion of a fund of more than Rs. 500 crores raised through a public issue by the Reliance Petroleum Limited (RPL), a company of the Reliance Group in 1993, the SEBI submitted that the complaint filed in December 2000 in the matter was ``highly belated''.

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Section  : National
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