Oswals’ lawsuit proceeds in court after talks fail

A $1.5bn-plus lawsuit against ANZ Bank is underway in court after settlement talks broke down.

The court room where the Oswal's case is going on in Melbourne. There are 3 full benches of QCs, SCs, lawyers, barristers etc, around 38 lawyers in all. Picture: Stuart McEvoy, The Australian.

Indian business couple Pankaj and Radhika Oswal’s $1.5bn-plus lawsuit against the ANZ is going ahead after the parties failed to reach a settlement at talks this morning.

The couple claim the bank seized and sold their Burrup Fertiliser empire at an undervalue in 2010-11 after a dispute over hundreds of millions in debt.

In turn, the bank accuses them of misappropriating $150m from Burrup and spending the money on luxury cars, property including the as-yet-unfinished “Taj on Swan” mansion in Perth and Mrs Oswal’s chain of vegetarian restaurants.

Mrs Oswal was set to give evidence this morning but the hearing was delayed until 2.15pm this afternoon by the talks.

This afternoon, Mr and Mrs Oswal attended the Victorian Supreme Court in Melbourne with their two daughters, Vasundhara, 18, and Riddhi, 12.

“The matter is proceeding as planned,” counsel for Mrs Oswal, Garry Rich, SC, told the court.

However, US company Apache, which supplied gas to Burrup, this afternoon formally confirmed it has struck a settlement with the Oswals and would play no further role in the case.

Norwegian company Yara, which owned the 35 per cent of Burrup not held by the Oswals, is also close to a settlement, the court heard.