SC asks govt to clarify its stand on doubling gas price

Court made observation while hearing PIL against UPA formula.

The Supreme Court on Thursday sought to know from the NDA government if it wanted to carry forward the previous government’s decision to double the gas price from the Krishna-Godavari basin as per the Rangarajan panel formula.

A bench led by Justice TS Thakur asked Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar about the new government’s stand on the controversy over the hike, which some PIL petitioners have claimed was done only to benefit Reliance Industries Ltd.

“Tell us whether this government follows the same policy or not. You have to tell us whether you want to stick to the old policy and to the formula finalised by the previous government or want to have a new one,” the bench asked Kumar.

Kumar told the bench that the price hike was stalled by the Election Commission in April in view of the impending general elections and the new government has now asked a committee to look into the matter.

“Nothing is going to happen till September 30. The committee is going into it and a decision is likely to be taken by September 30,” said Kumar, while asking for the time.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for RIL, said he was “equally keen” to know if the new government was willing to accept the Rangarajan formula for fixing the price of natural gas.

This formula had led to a near doubling of prices to around $8.4 per million British thermal units (mmBtu).

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At this, the court favoured adjourning the matter so that the NDA government could take a call on the gas pricing row. Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, who represented CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta, and advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for NGO Common Cause, then requested the bench to issue an interim order to restrain the government from allowing any hike till the court decide the matter. Salve opposed the prayer, saying requests for interim stay had been rejected in the past and also pointed out that in case, the government decides to grant a hike, it can always be rolled back if the court decide otherwise.

The bench then asked the petitioners’ counsel to repose some faith in the newly elected government.