The Bombay High Court has asked Reliance Power , an Anil Ambani Reliance Group (ADAG) company, and the Edelweiss Group to resolve amicably the dispute over the sale of pledged shares, giving the warring parties a fortnight to arrive at a settlement.Judges would hear the case again if the two parties failed to reach an agreement beyond the courtroom on the disputed share sale that caused ADAG shares to lose $1.8 billion in market value.Reliance Project Ventures Management had approached the court against the sale of pledged shares by ECL Finance, alleging malicious dumping of the stock in three group companies an action ADAG says caused a precipitate fall in the stocks.ADAG is also seeking compensation of Rs 2,700 crore from the Edelweiss Group for the damage caused.On Tuesday, the division bench of Chief Justice NH Patil and Justice NM Jamdar gave two parties the time to resolve the dispute without judicial intervention.During the hearing, Prasad Dhakephalkar, the counsel for Reliance Project, argued that Edelweiss sold its shares in large quantities, leading to a price crash.ADAG also alleged that not enough notice was given to the company before the pledged shares were sold.
Reliance Project owned shares of Reliance Power, which slumped more than 50 per cent in two days after Edelweiss began selling the stock in the market.We are trying to bring in a strategic investor who can buy out promoter shares, the counsel told the court.
Senior counsel Janak Dwarkadas, representing Edelweiss, argued that the company can pay Rs 190 crore to release the remaining pledged shares.