The Political Angle

The Telecom Factor
Given the charges against Reliance Infocomm that it hoodwinked BSNL and MTNL, he had to initiate a damage-control exercise; also to convince he was pro-Congress

Corporate Ethics
He didn’t wish the finance ministry to take any official action against the allegations hurled by Anil against RIL and Reliance Infocomm

Keep Off IPCL
It was a bid to prevent Paswan’s ministry from interfering in the affairs of IPCL, on whose board the government has two bureaucrats as directors

Backing Buyback
He sought to stall any moves by SEBI to delay clearance of RIL’s buyback issue, especially as Anil had raised objections against it

The Samajwadi Leanings
He had to placate the Congress supremo, underplay his political leanings towards the Samajwadi Party, whose leader was hated by several Congress leaders

The Official Push
After leaking sensitive information, he thought the government would take action against the Reliance group, or Mukesh’s key advisors

Going After Jain
It was an attempt to pressure the ministry’s directors in IPCL to demand an independent probe to look into charges against Anand Jain

Insider Trading
Both publicly and privately, he pushed sebi to investigate recent trading in the RIL scrip, whose price he thought was being manipulated