‘Mukesh changed non-compete pact’

MUMBAI: As Reliance Industries prepares to hold its annual general meeting on Tuesday, the Ambani brothers are beginning to assume increasingly implacable positions on the non-compete agreement feud.

The agreement was originally created a year ago to protect the brothers' respective business turfs. Anil's camp, however, alleges that subtle changes were later made by the majority members on the boards of companies who were close to Mukesh Ambani. This changed the non-compete clauses to the advantage of RIL, claim Reliance ADAG sources.

"The non-compete agreement dated January 12, 2006 is irrelevant because it was wrongfully executed by RIL/MDA group, while the ADA group companies were still under the control of RIL/MDA group," says a  source from Anil Ambani's group.

RIL, however, declined to comment on the latest salvos fired by Anil Ambani's group.

"The argument of Mukesh's RIL group that airports in SEZ can be built by them is untenable because there is no such exception provided in the agreement," a Reliance source said today.

"It is in any case completely misleading to say that building an airport is necessary, integral or incidental to development of an SEZ," Anil's group argues.

To be fair to RIL, they have also pointed to certain deviations from the agreement made by Anil's camp, such as in the pipeline project and the plans to enter the oil and gas exploration, sectors that exclusively come under Mukesh's purview.