Anil Ambani
The ongoing tussle between Anil Ambani and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the industry for the last few days has taken a new turn. When Anil Ambani did not appear on ED summons on Friday, various speculations started in the market and media. But now, the Chairman of Reliance ADAG Group, breaking his silence, has put forward a proposal before the investigating agency. The matter is related to the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), in which Anil Ambani has made it clear that he is fully ready to cooperate in the investigation, but with conditions and facilities.
‘It was a domestic contract, there was no question of foreign exchange’ – Ambani
Anil Ambani An attempt has been made to reduce the seriousness of the matter in a special media release issued by. Their spokesperson has clearly said that the case on which ED is showing so much strictness is actually 15 years old i.e. from the year 2010. This matter is related to Jaipur-Reengus Highway Project.
Anil Ambani argues that the EPC contract that Reliance Infrastructure got in 2010 for the construction of this road was completely a “domestic contract”. This simply means that this project did not involve any kind of foreign currency transaction. How can there be a FEMA violation when no foreign exchange was used? The statement also added that this road project has been completed and for the last four years i.e. from 2021, it is under the jurisdiction of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
Ambani has proposed to the ED that he is available at any time to record his statement, but has expressed his desire to connect through “virtual presence” or video conferencing. This move shows that he is not running away from the investigation, but perhaps wants to cooperate on his own terms.
What is the ‘Hawala’ connection worth Rs 100 crore?
Even though Anil Ambani is calling it an ordinary domestic matter, in the eyes of the Enforcement Directorate the story is different. The investigating agency suspects that under the guise of the Jaipur-Ringas Highway Project, about Rs 100 crore was illegally sent out of the country. In technical language it is called ‘Hawala’ route.
Hawala means illegal transfer of money in cash without using banking channels. According to reports, ED has recorded statements of several suspected hawala traders and other persons before sending summons to Anil Ambani. On the basis of the information received from these statements, the heat of investigation has now reached Anil Ambani. The agency now wants to understand directly from them in which direction the flow of funds of the project was.
‘I was only a non-executive director’: Anil
To save himself from the heat of investigation, another important technical argument has been given by Anil Ambani. His spokesperson has clarified that from April 2007 to March 2022, i.e. for about 15 years, Anil Ambani was only a ‘Non-executive Director’ in Reliance Infrastructure.
This means that he did not have direct responsibility for the day-to-day functioning, decisions or operations of the company. The day-to-day operations of the company were in the hands of other management officials. Through this argument, an attempt has been made to show that even if there has been some irregularity at the company level, the chairman cannot be held directly responsible for it.
It is worth noting that even before this, Anil Ambani has been questioned in the alleged bank fraud and money laundering case of Rs 17,000 crore, due to which the credibility of his companies has already been tarnished.
Heavy fall in Reliance shares
Data of the last six months show that the shares of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) companies are under heavy pressure. Shares of Reliance Infrastructure, which is at the center of this entire issue, have seen a huge decline of about 29.51% in the last six months. At the same time, shares of Reliance Power have fallen by 6.86% and shares of Reliance Communication have fallen by 2.26%.