… or maybe it’s still just business. This is perhaps the only recorded instance of a defamation lawsuit between 2 of the world’s top 5 most richest men. [Rediff] (tip Sidhu via email)

In another twist to the feud between the Ambani brothers, the younger sibling Anil’s Group is understood to have filed a defamation suit for a whopping Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) against elder Mukesh Ambani for remarks purported to have been made by him in an interview with the New York Times several weeks ago.

Rs. 100 billion roughly translates to $2.2-$2.5 billion making this perhaps one of the most expensive defamation lawsuits at least in India, if not worldwide. So what did Mukesh say that wrought upon himself this expensive mess?

For the backdrop to this story, look no further than Über Desi’s post on Mukesh Ambani based on his featured story in the New York Times. [UD] [NYT]

In the concluding page of this article, NYT was discussing Mukesh’s need to exert some “extra-curricular” influence over his employees, colleagues, competitors, the bureaucrats and anyone else vital to his business interests. Part of his technique involves an “intelligence agency”.

What most distinguishes Reliance from its rivals is what Mr. Ambani’s friends and associates describe as his “intelligence agency,” a network of lobbyists and spies in New Delhi who they say collect data about the vulnerabilities of the powerful, about the minutiae of bureaucrats’ schedules, about the activities of their competitors.

In the NYT interview, Mukesh linked his estranged brother to this “intelligence agency”.

Mr. Ambani said in the interview that all such activities were overseen by his brother before they split, and had since been expunged from his tranche of the company. “We de-merged all of that,” he says, breaking out in a belly laugh. A spokesman for Anil Ambani declined to comment.

On a lighter note, if Mukesh did end up losing this case for $2 billion, all he would have to do is sell his proposed home for the same amount.

Is this valid grounds for a defamation lawsuit of Rs 100 billion or is Anil just over-reacting? What do you think of this entire feud between the two brothers?

Last year, Indian-American members of a group named “Forum for Saving Gandhi’s Heritage”, published a full page $65,000 ad in the New York Times targeting Sonia Gandhi. [NDTV story] [the picture of the ad]

The ad was also followed by protests when Sonia and Rahul Gandhi visited the UN to participate in the International Non-Violence Day. Last month, the Indian National Overseas Congress (INOC) served legal notices for defamation and libel on 3 members of the outfit demanding $100 million dollars in damages plus miscellaneous costs. [ExpressIndia.com]

To me, the ad seemed like a huge waste of money. To those who knew Sonia Gandhi, they probably already made up their mind to like her or hate her and the ad was not going to change that. To those who were not familiar with Sonia Gandhi (layman on the streets of America), the ad basically conveyed to them that Sonia was not related to Mohandas Gandhi. Other than that, Americans are used to seeing attack ads in mass media on a regular basis and are probably inured to them by now. So in essence, they spent $65,000 to take out a full page ad saying someone is not related to someone. Think of it this way, an American in India takes out a full page ad in the Times Of India saying George Washington is not related to Denzel Washington (totally random choice of two people with similar last names). Americans in India know that and Indians in India probably know that and even if they don’t, they could care less. The entire effort seems like a massive waste of money and resources, not counting the lawsuit which is breathing down their necks.

Having seen the ad, what are your thoughts on the entire saga?