Ambanis fight £1bn defamation lawsuit

The bitter and long-running feud between the Indian industrialist brothers Mukesh (pictured right) and Anil Ambani – multi-billionaires who are ranked the fifth and sixth richest people on the planet – is now turning really nasty. In the latest twist, Anil, who in recent weeks has been linked with the purchase of Newcastle United football club, has reportedly filed a £1bn defamation lawsuit against his elder brother.

The legal action relates to a rare interview the notoriously secretive Mukesh, 51, gave to the New York Times earlier this year in which, according to court documents, he accused his 49-year old sibling of running a network of private spies that "collects data about the vulnerabilities of the powerful". A source close to Anil Ambani said: "The article starts out comparing Mukesh Ambani to Mahatma Gandhi and then, suddenly, makes these outrageous remarks. It's impossible for Anil not to seek proper address."

The brothers are two of India's most important men – between them they account for five per cent of the country's GDP. This week the Indian government was forced to intervene to ensure that an important portion of the country's gas supplies – the ownership of which the brothers are fighting over – continued to flow. Their relationship is the subject of endless stories in the Indian press, which has revealed that while they each own a share of a building in their home city Mumbai, they use separate lifts to avoid meeting one another. A judge, exasperated by their number of court appearances, recently asked their mother to mediate between the pair.

The acrimony dates back to the death of their father, Dhirubhai Ambani, six years ago. He left his business empire jointly to his two sons but things got so bad they were forced to divide the assets. Now each brother runs his half of the former empire independently of the other.