The Hindu Business Line : Mukesh says CMD is final authority

THE Reliance controversy deepened today with the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Ltd, Mr Mukesh Ambani, telling his employees who was in the driver's seat at Reliance.

In his statement that was e-mailed to over 80,000 employees of the Reliance group, he said: "Our Founder Chairman Dhirubhai Ambani had taken all necessary steps to separate ownership from management and has settled all of them within his lifetime. There is no ambiguity in his legacy that the Chairman-and-Managing-Director is the final authority on all matters concerning Reliance."

The Chairman and Managing Director is of course Mr Mukesh Ambani himself.

The day was also marked by the resignation of Mr M.L. Bhakta as Director on the board of Reliance Industries, a position he held for 27 years.

The board of directors of the company is also likely to meet shortly to take stock of the developments, it is learnt.

It was widely anticipated that Mr Anil Ambani too would be making a statement today on "ownership issues", but nothing of the sort happened.

No reason was attributed to the resignation of Mr Bhakta, who is a partner with solicitors Kanga & Co. There was some talk that Mr Bhakta, who is 75, might have resigned on health grounds, or even on account of his age, perhaps in view of the new corporate governance norms, but neither him nor anyone else at the company was available for comment.

But his resignation at this juncture has only intensified discussions about which way the top echelons in the group might be divided on the controversy itself.

Mr Mukesh Ambani's note to his employees referred to media stories that "cast aspersions on the legacy of our Founder Chairman as well as on the on the professional management of our company."

"First of all, there is no question of any effect on the integrity of Reliance," it said.

The professional resource base of Reliance is one of the strongest in the world, both in terms of diversity of disciplines as well as depth in each discipline, said his statement.

More Stories on : Corporate Disputes | Corporate Disputes | Petrochemicals

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Mukesh says CMD is final authority — Reliance director Bhakta resigns

Reliance stocks close in the red — Sensex tests 6,000 level again

Private airlines' Gulf flights not for now

Novartis research centre: It's a toss-up between India, China

Temasek picks up 10 pc stake in Gateway Distriparks

ISA plans umbrella body for entire steel industry — US, Japan models proposed

PM calls for scale-down of tariffs to ASEAN levels

AP industrialist bids highest for Standard Motors land, assets