Reliance Industries will have to soon prove in the Bombay High Court that a recent order passed by chief information commissioner Satyananda Mishra involving the company does not involve ?public interest?.
This comes following an appeal filed by the country?s largest private sector entity to be made a party in an ongoing legal fight between the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and an RTI activist-cum-lawyer Arun Agrawal, who wants the regulator to disclose the names of the entities involved in the RIL insider trading case.
On Thursday, senior counsel Janak Dwarkadas, appearing on behalf of RIL, sought time to file a reply in the matter. The bench comprising Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice AA Sayed will next hear the matter on January 23. In November, CIC directed Sebi to disclose the names of the entities involved in the RIL insider trading matter wherein the company is alleged to have made unlawful gains of around R500 crore.
The CIC direction came after Agrawal wanted Sebi to disclose the names of individuals, partners, directors and major shareholders (in case of companies) involved in the short sale of shares of Reliance Petroleum (later merged with RIL) in November 2007.
Post CIC order, Sebi moved the Bombay HC, questioning the rationale of ?public interest? in the CIC order, saying the information sought by Agrawal is related to an individual company and it is not clear what public interest will be served by such disclosures.
Sebi is of the view that the investigations are still on and any such information revealed could hamper the probe. Sebi, in its petition, also highlighted the fact that the order was passed by Mishra and not the CIC panel as a whole.
Early this month, the high court had directed that RIL be made a party to the case since the matter relates to a regulatory probe on the listed entity owned by Mukesh Ambani. The bench was of the view that the party should be given an opportunity to be heard before a verdict is given.
