Reliance submits documents to CBI in bribery probe, executive gets bail

CBI arrested a Reliance senior V-P Bharat Mathur, and an official from the country's aviation regulator last month, accusing them of agreeing to a $16k bribe to clear drone import applications

India's biggest listed company, Reliance Industries, has handed over documents demanded by federal police investigating ​a drone import bribery case involving one of ​its senior vice presidents, according to a court order.

The order by ‌a New Delhi court issued on Monday night did not specify what documents were demanded by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The CBI arrested a Reliance senior vice president, Bharat Mathur, and an official from the country's aviation regulator last month, accusing them of agreeing to a $16,000 bribe to clear drone import applications by Asteria Aerospace, a Reliance unit.

The court also granted bail to Mathur, 64, on a personal bond of 100,000 rupees ($1,050). Both he and the government ‌official, who is still in custody, have denied the allegations.

 

Reliance, which is led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, and Asteria did not respond to Reuters queries. The CBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The investigation and arrest of the senior Reliance executive come as Ambani's Jio Platforms, which owns Asteria, is gearing to file papers seeking ​regulatory approvals for a Mumbai listing, in what is likely to be India's biggest-ever ‌stock offering.

Reliance has previously said Mathur was engaged as a consultant and the company neither knew of nor approved "any such unauthorised ​transaction."

Asteria ‌Aerospace describes itself as a drone technology company that provides "actionable intelligence from aerial ‌data". It provides services to agriculture, construction, telecom, and oil and gas sectors through the more than 400 drones it has deployed.

The ‌CBI ​investigators have also questioned ​co-founders of Asteria Aerospace as part of the probe, the order said. The company was started in 2011 and Reliance ‌bought it in ​a $2.45 million deal in 2019.