SC to hear Ambani row from today
The Supreme Court will begin hearing on the gas row between the estranged industrialist brothers — Mukesh and Anil Ambani.
The Supreme Court (SC) will begin hearing on the gas row between the estranged industrialist brothers — Mukesh and Anil Ambani today.
The siblings are entangled in a legal battle over the pricing and supply of gas from elder brother Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL)’s Krishna-Godavari’s (KG) D6 block in Andhra Pradesh to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) for its power project in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh.
The dispute began after the two split the Reliance group between themselves in 2005, when RNRL contended that the gas sale master agreement (GSMA) or gas sale and purchase agreement (GSPA) approved by RIL board was illegal as there were major deviations between the “the agreed position” and “arrangements.”
RNRL’s appeal in the apex court in July sought modification of the Bombay High Court order that made the supply of gas binding. RIL, in its appeal, has challenged the HC ruling asking it supply gas at $2.34 per million British Therma unit (mBtu) — 44% lower than the price fixed by the government, which is $4.20 per mBtu.
RIL has contended that the high court erred in its decision on three counts — quantity, tenure and price of gas supply. It has made the government a party in its petition before the apex court.
The high profile gas dispute has involved everyone in the government, from the prime minister to fertiliser secretary Atul Chaturvedi, late Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, Samajwadi party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Union petroleum minister Murli Deora and hordes of other bureaucrats and politicians, who have thrown their weights behind the two squabbling brothers to strengthen their case in the court.
In a surprise move, a week before the beginning of the SC hearing, Anil Ambani offered olive branch to his elder brother in an attempt to settle the matter through mutual dialogue.
In a statement issued to the media, he communicated to his brother that their “dispute could be settled within weeks rather months.”
Mukesh Ambani spurned the overture, saying that going by Anil’s previous actions, he found it hard to believe that “he has had real change of heart.”
The brothers are now headed for a showdown in the SC, where RIL is fighting the case on the basis that memorandum of understanding (MoU) or the GSMA signed by Mukesh Ambani was in his personal capacity and so cannot be binding on the RIL board and its shareholders.
The RIL board has submitted affidavits that it has not seen the MoU or approved it. The Mukesh-owned energy company has also contended that it did not have marketing freedom and right to supply gas to RNRL at subsidised rates as it was the empowered group of ministers (eGoM) that allocated gas to various customers under the gas utilisation policy and fixed the price.
A week back, the oil ministry had asked for expansion of its legal team for the Ambani gas case.
The siblings are entangled in a legal battle over the pricing and supply of gas from elder brother Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL)’s Krishna-Godavari’s (KG) D6 block in Andhra Pradesh to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) for its power project in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh.
The dispute began after the two split the Reliance group between themselves in 2005, when RNRL contended that the gas sale master agreement (GSMA) or gas sale and purchase agreement (GSPA) approved by RIL board was illegal as there were major deviations between the “the agreed position” and “arrangements.”
RNRL’s appeal in the apex court in July sought modification of the Bombay High Court order that made the supply of gas binding. RIL, in its appeal, has challenged the HC ruling asking it supply gas at $2.34 per million British Therma unit (mBtu) — 44% lower than the price fixed by the government, which is $4.20 per mBtu.
RIL has contended that the high court erred in its decision on three counts — quantity, tenure and price of gas supply. It has made the government a party in its petition before the apex court.
The high profile gas dispute has involved everyone in the government, from the prime minister to fertiliser secretary Atul Chaturvedi, late Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, Samajwadi party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Union petroleum minister Murli Deora and hordes of other bureaucrats and politicians, who have thrown their weights behind the two squabbling brothers to strengthen their case in the court.
In a surprise move, a week before the beginning of the SC hearing, Anil Ambani offered olive branch to his elder brother in an attempt to settle the matter through mutual dialogue.
In a statement issued to the media, he communicated to his brother that their “dispute could be settled within weeks rather months.”
Mukesh Ambani spurned the overture, saying that going by Anil’s previous actions, he found it hard to believe that “he has had real change of heart.”
The brothers are now headed for a showdown in the SC, where RIL is fighting the case on the basis that memorandum of understanding (MoU) or the GSMA signed by Mukesh Ambani was in his personal capacity and so cannot be binding on the RIL board and its shareholders.
The RIL board has submitted affidavits that it has not seen the MoU or approved it. The Mukesh-owned energy company has also contended that it did not have marketing freedom and right to supply gas to RNRL at subsidised rates as it was the empowered group of ministers (eGoM) that allocated gas to various customers under the gas utilisation policy and fixed the price.
A week back, the oil ministry had asked for expansion of its legal team for the Ambani gas case.