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RIL brought in ECBs worth $1126 million: ED

The Enforcement Directorate on Monday informed the Delhi high court that Reliance Industries Ltd had brought to India external commercial borrowings (ECBs) worth $1126.38 million including interests after the ED had issued notice to the company.

Filing a status report on investigation by ED against RIL into alleged retaining of ECB abroad in violation of Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), ante-dating of certain letters of credit for import of Purified Telepthalic Acid and export of masoor cereal to some countries in substitution of yarn, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) K K Sud told the court that substantial progress had been made in these cases.

Sud told a division bench, comprising of Chief Justice Arijit Passayat and Justice D K Jain, that according to Reserve Bank of India, RIL has repatriated the entire ECB proceeds to India including interests between August 1999 and November 2000 and no further probe is required in this regard.

The ED has issued notices to RIL, its former General Manager V T Pai and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) with regard to issuing of ante-dating letters of credit to RIL by Banque IndoSuez and Standard Chartered Bank.

Notices had also been issued to the concerned officials of these banks, he said adding the Directorate had also been investigating into issuance of ante-dated letters of credit by State Bank of India (SBI), Canara Bank and Banque de Societe Generale (SGB), Sud said.

ED further stated that "a deep-rooted" conspiracy was hatched by a firm owned by Rajeev Pathak in connivance with RIL for illegal export of masoor cereal as commodity, substituted in place of yarn, which was cleared by custom authorities.

Pathak, in reply to a notice sent by ED, had "admitted" that he had spent Rs 120 million for purchasing bank drafts in the deal, ED said.

Information supplied by RIL and documents provided by it in this regard, were being examined by the ED, Sud informed the court.

The status report was sought by the court following a writ petition by Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy, seeking CBI and ED probe into certain alleged irregularties by RIL including FERA violations.

He had also sought CBI investigation into alleged links of RIL with self-stylted politician Romesh Sharma, who allegedly was front man of under world don, Dawood Ibrahim.

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