Virtually turning down the request of Reliance Group company IPCL for reconsidering his resignation as vice chairman and director, Anil Ambani, engaged in a war of attrition with elder brother Mukesh, on Saturday sought resolution of issues, including corporate governance and disclosure, before any rethink on his decision.
"There are substantial issues of corporate governance, disclosure, related party transactions and conflict of interest among others that the Board needs to seriously address," Anil's spokesperson said.
"Once these issues have been resolved, a constructive forward path on the resignation can be considered," the spokesperson said adding "Anil Ambani has not heard anything from IPCL or its chairman Mukesh Ambani."
Anil had resigned from the board of IPCL, a PSU acquired by the Reliance Group in 2002, saying it would be below his dignity to serve on the same board as Anand Jain, whom he accused of conspiring to divide the family.
He alleged Jain had a conflict of interest in the company where, through his relatives, he was a distributor of the products, besides being a director.
The IPCL board at its meeting on January 20 requested Anil to reconsider his resignation but none of the issues raised by him, including a demand for independent report from a reputed accounting firm on Anand Jain's business relations was taken up.
The Reliance 'ownership issue'
Anil's statement came a day after it was revealed that Mukesh had been seeking a meeting with him since November 30 to resolve the differences.
The younger brother, however, responded by saying a meeting could be productive only if a "fair and equitable" solution was proposed and he was willing to talk to his brother immediately thereafter in the presence of mother Kokilaben and other family members.
According to reports, Mukesh had again sought to meet Anil on January 20 after the IPCL board meeting, which the younger brother did not attend, and was in Delhi talking to officials in the ministries of finance and power in connection with Reliance Energy, a company headed by him.
Sources close to Anil indicated he was not likely to withdraw his resignation as none of the issues raised by him were taken up at the Board meetings of either IPCL or group's flagship company RIL, headed by Mukesh, on Friday.
The disclosure about the communication between the two brothers through letters, though the two stay in the same building Sea Wind in Mumbai, came within hours of Y P Trivedi, an independent director in RIL and heading the corporate governance committee, gave a clean chit to the flagship company on investments in Reliance Infocomm, headed by Mukesh.
Trivedi had said if Anil wrote to RIL Board on any issue relating to corporate governance, then the committee would surely look into it.