SC to hear Ambani case again

The court battle between the Ambani brothers will begin afresh on Thursday, after two judges of the Supreme Court recused themselves from two separate cases on Wednesday, citing possible conflict of interest.

Justice B Sudarshan Reddy has replaced Justice Raveendran. The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan will start hearing the RIL (RELIANCE.NS : 1045.95 -17.8)-RNRL (RNRL.NS : 67.25 -0.45) case afresh.

Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani are battling over the delivery of gas from the Krishna Basin. Mukesh wants to revise the price of gas 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.

"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 high-voltage legal battle between the Ambani brothers has entered its third week of hearing.

Justice Raveendran, one of the judges hearing the Ambani vs. Ambani case, dropped out of the case yesterday.

After hearing the judgement for almost two months, Supreme Court Judge Markandey Katju dropped out of the case involving Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) on Wednesday.

The case from which Justice Katju withdrew related to a dispute over the price of naphtha supplied by the state-owned Bharat Petroleum (BPCL.NS : 581.65 +10.35) to Reliance Industries.

Justice Katju withdrew from the case, saying that his wife owned Reliance industries shares.