No cheap gas for Anil Ambani group, Govt has last word: SC

Ranjit Kumar Sinha & R Balaji
New Delhi, May 7 (PTI) In what could be a severe blow to
Anil Ambani group seeking cheap gas from elder brother Mukesh-
led Reliance Industries Limited, the Supreme Court of India
Friday ruled that government has the last word on pricing and
utilisation of national asset.
Giving its verdict on the four-year-old Ambani battle
that was intertwined with a bitter public wrangling, a
three-judge bench of the court headed by Chief Justice K G
Balakrishnan said the Ambani family MoU dividing the gas was
not binding, both legally as well as technically.
Immediately after the judgement, Reliance Natural
Resources Limited (RNRL) Chairman Anil Ambani, who was present
at the courtroom, left without taking any questions from the
throng of reporters and cameramen.
Stock market responded swiftly to the judgement, with RIL
shares shooting up by about five per cent to nearly Rs 1050
and that of RNRL tanked close to 20 per cent close to Rs 55.
"RIL does not have absolute right over gas and price is
subject to government approval... since MoU (of the Ambani
family) has not been made public, it does not fall in the
corporate domain... Under the Production Sharing Contract, it
is for the government to evaluate the price of fuel," Justice
P Sathasivam said, reading out the verdict.
Within minutes, the government welcomed the verdict
upholding its sovereign right on pricing and utilisation of
gas.
"No matter what campaign one ran against the government,
the nation is supreme" Oil Minister Murli Deora said without
naming Anil Ambani group which had cast aspersions on his
ministry for allegedly siding with Mukesh-led RIL.
The court also directed RIL to initiate negotiations with
RNRL within six weeks to arrive at a sale agreement within the
framework of government policy.
RNRL had contended that it was entitled to 28 mmscmd of
gas a day from RIL's eastern offshore KG-D6 fields, at USD
2.34 per mmBtu, a price 44 per cent lower than government
approved rate of USD 4.20 per mmBtu. MORE PTI RKS
RBT


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