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The Bombay High Court on Friday adjourned to December 2, hearing on a Reliance Industries' petition seeking approval for the scheme to demerge the company's power, finance and telecom businesses as part of a settlement between Ambani siblings Mukesh and Anil Ambani.
The matter was adjourned by Justice Nishita Mhatre after a shareholder raised objections against the entire proposal. The judge asked the shareholder to file his reply and adjourned the matter till December 2, 2005.
Mankad contended that the scheme of arrangement proposed to RIL shareholders was completely devoid of requisite details, which are considered essential to offer the shareholders a fair chance to arrive at the assessment of their present and future holding in the demerged company and demerged undertaking.
He also said that even though huge assets worth Rs 19,119.54 crore (Rs 191.19 billion) were being demerged, the description given in the schedules does not specify the assets and liabilities to be transferred, and hence the proposal was incomplete and vague.
It also gives unfair advantage in the hands of the management to make adjustments and tamper with the list according to their wish, the shareholder said, adding that the company may be directed to come out with a new scheme giving full disclosures and also the required material facts of the properties with their valuation.
Earlier, Mukesh Ambani-controlled RIL had moved the court on September 13 seeking its approval of the demerger scheme, which was worked out following a settlement between the Ambani siblings Mukesh and Anil on June 17.
The court had asked RIL to inform about the shareholders' approval of the scheme and accordingly, RIL formed a committee headed by Justice (Retd) M L Pendse to hold an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders and submit his report to the court.
The EGM was held on October 21 in which a majority of shareholders approved the demerger scheme.
After the announcement of settlement on June 17, the RIL board had on August five approved the demerger scheme under which all RIL shareholders would get one share each in the four new companies with effect from September 1.
As per the proposed shareholding pattern, every Reliance Industries Ltd shareholder would get a share each in Reliance Communication Ventures Ltd, Reliance Energy Venture Ltd, Reliance Capital Ventures Ltd and Global Fuel Management Services Ltd.