The Supreme Court resumed its hearing in the Ambani brothers’ rival appeals today, after the dramatic recusal of one judge from the Bench yesterday. Reliance Industries’ counsel Harish Salve recapitulated the arguments made by him in the past six days and asserted that the company had no choice but to follow the government’s gas utilisation policy.
RIL’s price for the gas from the K-G basin discovered and operated by it was subject to government approval and it cannot be a private arrangement between the two brothers, counsel told the bench now consisting of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices B Sudershan Reddy and P Sathasivam.
According to the government decision, gas will be distributed in line with the price and priority set by it. The consuming industry should draw the gas for actual use and it could be kept in reserve.
If one consumer is not able to use it, the next in line of priority set by the government will get the gas.
The priority cannot be set by the brothers, nor can it be given to a power plant which is yet to come up, noted Salve.
Ram Jethmalani, counsel for rival Reliance Natural Resources Ltd interrupted the arguments at one stage to assert that RIL was now taking a stand exactly contrary to the one taken in the Bombay High Court.
He said he could show certain documents to the court which would vindicate the stand of Anil Ambani-owned RNRL in the appeals.
Jethmalani said he needed only 10 ten minutes to disprove the arguments of Salve. “He had spent 30 hours; please give me 10 minutes,” he pleaded, and added that it would reduce the time spent in the hearing.
However, the judges were not willing to hear him at this stage.
This led to raised voices, with Salve asking the politician-lawyer not to “reduce the proceedings to a street brawl”.
The arguments will resume next Tuesday, after the week-end break.
The schedule of the hearing has been upset because of the recusal of Justice R V Raveendran, who was on the Bench since October 20 when the hearing started.
The earlier target to finish the hearing was November 17. But, with RIL recapitulating its arguments of the past two weeks, and the front row filled by senior lawyers from both sides, there is no end in sight soon.
There are five appeals, including that of the government, which challenges the judgment of the Bombay high court in the legal spat between the Ambani brothers.
The High Court ordered RIL to supply gas to RNRL at a price lower than that fixed by the government.
Both brothers approached the Supreme Court, aggrieved by diverse parts of the judgment. The government also entered the fray, adding to the complexity.
