Ambani case stalled for a day over conflict of interest

New Delhi, Nov 4: The Ambani gas dispute took a new turn today with Supreme Court Judge R V Raveendran pulling himself out of the case.

Justice Raveendran, one of the judges hearing the high-profile Ambani vs Ambani case, dropped out of the case citing a possible conflict of interest.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had put off the hearing of the case till October 20.

Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani are battling over the delivery of gas from the Krishna Basin. Mukesh wants to revise the price at which Anil can buy from him. The price agreed upon is below market rates, and was arrived at through a family agreement.

When the case came up before the courts last month, Justice Raveendran told the court that he had shares in Mukesh Ambani's RIL and offered to withdraw from the case if anyone had any objection.

At that time, lawyers for both Mukesh and Anil Ambani said that they were fine with his hearing the case.

"I came to know that my daughter is a partner in AZB Company. This company is advising RIL on global acquisitions. Though it is not directly connected with the case, I don't want to continue with the case," said Justice Raveendran.

The case will start afresh on Thursday in front of a new bench.

The schedule for the case will see four days of arguments each by lawyers representing Mukesh and Anil's companies. The Government and the other interested parties will then have two days to present their side of the case.

--ANI