Mumbai, June 8 (PTI): Anil Ambani today withdrew a Rs 10,000-crore defamation suit against elder brother Mukesh in Bombay High Court.

“Yes, we have withdrawn the suit claiming Rs 10,000 crore as damages,” a spokesperson for Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group said.

The suit was filed by Anil in September 2008 soon after Mukesh’s Reliance Industries Ltd frustrated his attempts to acquire South African telecom giant MTN that year.

RIL had sent a legal notice to MTN asserting its right of first refusal on a stake in R-Com, a move that forced the Anil Ambani group to drop its merger plans.

The defamation suit was dropped within days of R-Com deciding to offload a 26 per cent stake in a strategic sale.

Anil had dragged his brother to court, alleging that Mukesh had defamed him in an interview to The New York Times in June 2008 that was reproduced in two leading Indian newspapers. The suit against the newspapers has also been withdrawn.

The Ambani brothers signed an agreement late last month, ending a bitter public and legal battle.

As part of the truce, the two brothers decided to scrap a non-compete agreement between their respective groups, a move that will give each side flexibility to utilise resources more efficiently and enter businesses that were so long inaccessible.