Mumbai, Jan 28: Dhirubhai Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), has moved an application in a Mumbai metropolitan court seeking the withdrawal of the summons and criminal proceedings issued against him in two cases filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).The CBI had filed two charge-sheets on January 5, 1996, against RIL, Ambani and 10 others, alleging that letters of credit for the import of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) worth around Rs 180 crore had been backdated.
The application for withdrawal of the summons and criminal proceedings against Dhirubhai Ambani were filed before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, SB Dhumal, by Ambani's counsel BN Mehta on October 22, 1997.
The case came up for hearing on January 6, but due to paucity of time it was adjourned to April 3. The CBI is expected to file a reply to Ambani's application at the next hearing, sources said.
According to the application, Ambani has been named as an accused in both thecases on the presumption that he was involved in his capacity as chairman and managing director.
The application contends that "issuance of summons to the applicant to face a criminal trial case casts a slur and a stigma and it is imperative and in the interest of the justice that these proceedings be dropped".
The application further goes on to add that the "framing of a charge interferes with a person's liberty and continuance of these proceedings against the applicant could also violate the fundamental rights under article 21 of the Constitution". According to the application, the CBI chargesheets merely summarise, as a narration, the facts appearing in the statements of the witnesses and documents being relied upon by the prosecution, both of which form part of the police report under section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), 1973. "This summary is not evidence nor is it a substitute for evidence of witness or documents", it adds.
Pertinently, the application also states that the allegationsmade are a "mere submission of the prosecuting agency which is not substantial by any material on record, documentary or oral." The allegations are a mere presumption on the part of the CBI. It has also been submitted that there is no material in the police report to even remotely connect accused No 2 (Dhirubhai Ambani) with any of the alleged acts of opening of letters of credit (LOC) or imports of PTA referred to in the chargesheets.
The police report itself establishes that all matters relating to imports of PTA were under the overall charge of Rasiklal L Meswani, who was an executive director of the company when he passed away in August 1985, the application contends. "Merely because Dhirubhai H Ambani was chairman and managing director of the company by itself does not mean that he has committed an offence as alleged", the application submits.
"There is no vicarious liability of the director for offences under IPC and in the absence of any evidence of overt act of commission or illegal omission, aperson cannot be alleged of offence u/s IPC", it adds. As per the chargesheet, on May 25, 1985, the government issued a notice by which PTA was shifted from the list of items eligible for import under Open General Licence (OGL) to the list of limited permissible items. This required an importer of PTA to have an import licence before bringing in the material.
However, a 90-day grace period was allowed to importers to complete the PTA import if an irrevocable LoC had already been opened and established before the date of the notice.
As per the new policy, RIL, which had registered contracts with the ministry of petroleum for the import of 64,000 tonnes of PTA, was not entitled to make imports as there was no valid LoC, claims the charge-sheet. RIL is alleged to have backdated the LoCs to avail itself of PTA imports in connivance with a consortium of banks.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
