February 15, 2005 Dear All,
It is Olga Tellis and her team at The Asian Age again. Kindly refer to the following article RIL investors move Sebi on Pramod - By Olga Tellis Mumbai, Feb. 14: A group of shareholders of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has sent a complaint to the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the Department of Company Affairs and the President of India, among others, asking for an inquiry into the links of the three firms, which got one crore Reliance Infocomm (RIC) shares for Rs 1 crore, with the family of former communications minister Pramod Mahajan. The shareholders have given their names as Mr Manish Rane, Ms Sujata Pandit, Mr B.N. Rathod, Ms Hema R. Chopra and Mr Ashok Ramnathan and have mentioned reports in The Asian Age revealing the links between Mr Pramod Mahajan's family and the three firms. They say they are not providing any personal details about themselves, such as adddresses, because they fear for their lives. Sebi has acknowledged receipt of their complaint. In their complaint, the shareholders go beyond the reports that appeared in The Asian Age. Regarding the Pramod Mahajan family-Ashish Deora nexus, the shareholders say: "It has come to our knowledge that the promoters of India Online Network Ltd, namely Mr Ashish Deora, Mr V.R. Rao (Mr Ramanand Rao) and others, had hatched a criminal conspiracy to defraud the public and the state/nation by floating a company under the name and title of India Online Network Ltd and have the same listed on The Stock Exchange, Mumbai (and other stock exchanges) and take undue advantage of the prevailing dotcom boom/Internet boom. To circumvent various Sebi/BSE listing guidelines, they had taken over an old company, M/s Natwar Synthetics Ltd, and re-christened the same India Online Network Ltd." They alleged: "Aiding them in this scam was one Mr Siddharth Srivastava, formerly also associated with the ATN television channel. It is also a fact that Mr Rahul Mahajan and Ms Poonam Mahajan, son and daughter respectively of the former minister Pramod Mahajan, were also unofficial partners in this venture." These shareholders claim that "this company was floated merely with the intention to get the same listed on the stock exchange and take advantage of the volatility in the stock market, and the exorbitant and unrealistic share prices of the dotcom companies. As a matter of fact, India Online Network Ltd, now rechristened IOL Broadband Ltd, was also promoted as www.speedmelon.com (to bring in the dotcom tag)." The five RIL shareholders add in their complaint to Sebi and the others: "The other intention of the promoters of India Online Network Ltd was to secure huge loans from venture capitalists, venture capital funds etc, who at that time were willing to invest crores of rupees in anything that ended with a dotcom tag. Since the company was actually controlled by Mr Rahul Mahajan, while Mr Ashish Deora, the managing director, was merely a stooge/front end (sic) for the Mahajan family, various high-level contacts in the government were used and misused to obtain funding/loans/credit by the promoters. For example, the newly formed India Online Network Ltd obtained huge credit and procured goods and services from companies like Wipro, Cisco India, etc. It is a known fact that companies like Wipro and Cisco would never give goods and services on credit running into several crores of rupees unless there was pressure brought in from various quarters." "Similarly, India Online Network Ltd had brought undue pressure on IDBI to grant a loan of Rs 20 crores, of which Rs 10 crores was disbursed almost overnight. Again it is quite obvious how two or three, 24 to 26-year-old men were granted a loan of Rs 10 crores almost overnight to fund their venture. It is again quite obvious as to why IDBI is not prosecuting Mr Ashish Deora and others for defaulting on this loan. It has also come to our knowledge that the promoters of India Online Network Ltd owe several persons crores of rupees for services rendered and goods supplied. However, the concerned persons are threatened, cajoled and coerced into not filing complaints or recovery proceedings against the Mahajan family and their friends." The complaint to Sebi and the others makes several personal allegations regarding the lifestyle of Mr Rahul Mahajan and the stock market activities of Mr Deora and Mr Rahul Mahajan. The complaint concludes: "We request you and your office, including the other agencies, like the registrar of companies, to investigate in depth the activities of India Online Network Ltd and its promoters and unearth the illegal activities of the same. In the interest of our safety we have not mentioned our telephone numbers/complete residential address as we are aware that doing so would be risky and detrimental to our own lives and that of our families. We may, however, be contacted at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for any clarification. ------------------------------------- There is a formal complaint from the shareholders of RIC. The conclusion of the complaint is wroth taking note of. It shows the element of fear that is brutally used by the forces of evil. Here again, the focus of attention is Mr. Pramod Mahajan and his relatives. It appears that these shareholders are afraid of targetting Mukesh. We can understand their reluctance. After all, their money is at stake. We must congratulate Mr. Manish Rane and all his associates for their brave initiative and invite them to join the SAY NO TO RELIANCE campaign. Regards, Kaustubh Deshpande
