Case against Mukesh Ambani, Moily over gas scarcity, pricing

The Delhi government's Anti-Corruption Bureau Wednesday filed cases against Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and Petroleum Minister M. Veerappa Moily for allegedly creating artificial scarcity of natural gas and for fixing prices, official sources said.

A case has been registered against them and two others under the corruption prevention legislation, officials told IANS.

The development comes a day after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ordered the bureau to file criminal cases against Ambani, Moily, former petroleum minister Murli Deora and former director general of hydrocarbons V.K. Sibal.

At a press conference Tuesday, Kejriwal said he had received complaints from some "eminent persons" who spoke about alleged collusion between some ministers and industrialists to create artificial shortage of gas and hike prices unnecessarily.

Moily has rubbished the allegation.

"We should sympathise with his (Kejriwal's) ignorance. He does not know how the government runs. Norms are followed. There is a system in fixing prices," the minister had said.

Reliance Industries too said the allegations were misplaced.

The company said Kejriwal's decision was "shocking" and termed the complaint and the allegations, on the basis of which the Delhi government has taken such action, as "completely baseless and devoid of any merit or substance whatsoever".

"We deny these irresponsible allegations and propose to resort to the available legal remedies to protect our reputation and preserve the pioneering efforts and investment made by Reliance so far," a company statement said.

A Congress spokesperson said the party was not against any kind of inquiry but it must be within the constitutional jurisdiction and not based on political vendetta.

The Congress has already ruled out Moily's resignation.