In the long-standing legal battle over gas pricing between the Ambani brothers, there seems to be a new twist every day. Now, Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) plans to buy gas from Reliance Industries at a discounted rate and trade it.
The Anil Ambani firm says it wants to buy and trade the gas until its own power plants are ready, taking the battle straight to where it would hurt RIL the most.
RNRL seeks permission to trade the gas to other users till the time Dadri plant is ready.
It is legally as complicated as it can get and that’s why, when the Supreme Court bench headed by the chief justice listens to the two sides, there will be many layers of argument.
Adding the new twist to the tale will be RNRL's renewed claim of having rights to trade the gas until its power plant is ready.
But this is the issue on which Mukesh Ambani has had a problem from the very start. While price was always a point of dispute, the bigger dispute was that RNRL should use the gas only for its Dadri plant.
The family settlement, some say, also harps on the same captive use clause.
However, the younger Ambani’s side claims that RNRL was created in the first place to "carry on in the business of buying, selling, marketing, supplying and importing fuels including petroleum of all sorts and gases including natural gas."
It would be interesting to see to what extent RNRL will use this flank when the Chief Justice actually begins the hearing the case in Supreme Court on July 20. So far, the point of gas trading is not there in the Special leave petition that RNRL has submitted to the apex court.
L C Agarwala, advocate on record at Supreme Court, said, "RNRL will have to restrict themselves to the case that they fought in high court. If this point was not taken up in the high court, they cannot take this plea in the Supreme Court.”
RIL insiders also cite the production sharing agreement to say it is the sole marketer of the KG Basin D6 gas. Also they have pumped in $10 billion and under no circumstances can RNRL be allowed to buy the gas at cheap and sell it at a higher price.
So, clearly the Supreme Court bench will have three interlinked issues to debate—Is the family settlement valid? If so, what is the price for RNRL and will RNRL get the right to trade the gas?
The Anil Ambani firm says it wants to buy and trade the gas until its own power plants are ready, taking the battle straight to where it would hurt RIL the most.
RNRL seeks permission to trade the gas to other users till the time Dadri plant is ready.
It is legally as complicated as it can get and that’s why, when the Supreme Court bench headed by the chief justice listens to the two sides, there will be many layers of argument.
Adding the new twist to the tale will be RNRL's renewed claim of having rights to trade the gas until its power plant is ready.
But this is the issue on which Mukesh Ambani has had a problem from the very start. While price was always a point of dispute, the bigger dispute was that RNRL should use the gas only for its Dadri plant.
The family settlement, some say, also harps on the same captive use clause.
However, the younger Ambani’s side claims that RNRL was created in the first place to "carry on in the business of buying, selling, marketing, supplying and importing fuels including petroleum of all sorts and gases including natural gas."
It would be interesting to see to what extent RNRL will use this flank when the Chief Justice actually begins the hearing the case in Supreme Court on July 20. So far, the point of gas trading is not there in the Special leave petition that RNRL has submitted to the apex court.
L C Agarwala, advocate on record at Supreme Court, said, "RNRL will have to restrict themselves to the case that they fought in high court. If this point was not taken up in the high court, they cannot take this plea in the Supreme Court.”
RIL insiders also cite the production sharing agreement to say it is the sole marketer of the KG Basin D6 gas. Also they have pumped in $10 billion and under no circumstances can RNRL be allowed to buy the gas at cheap and sell it at a higher price.
So, clearly the Supreme Court bench will have three interlinked issues to debate—Is the family settlement valid? If so, what is the price for RNRL and will RNRL get the right to trade the gas?
0 comments:
Post a Comment