The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to postpone the hearing of a dispute between Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and the government over a $2.81 billion demand for alleged pilferage of natural gas from an ONGC block in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin. The court allowed RIL's fresh request to resolve the matter through bilateral conciliation with the Centre.
Fresh Plea for Conciliation
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing RIL, made a fresh plea for conciliation. Attorney General R. Venkataramani informed the court that RIL had made a fresh request on Monday morning and the government was willing to consider it. The bench, led by Chief Justice of India, had earlier declined to adjourn the hearing to July but agreed to postpone the four-day-long hearing to the third week of July after the Attorney General stated that the government was not averse to exploring the bilateral dispute resolution process.
Court's Response
The CJI-led bench remarked, "We will be most happy if the dispute is resolved through conciliation. If you come out with a settlement, we will dispose of the appeal." Last Wednesday, RIL had made two attempts to convince the bench to adjourn the hearing, but the Attorney General had preferred that the hearing on RIL's appeal against the Delhi High Court judgment be concluded. However, after the fresh request, the court allowed the matter to be taken up in July.
The dispute involves allegations that RIL pilfered natural gas from a block owned by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in the KG basin. The government had raised a demand of $2.81 billion from RIL for the alleged pilferage. RIL has contested this demand, and the matter is currently pending before the Supreme Court.
