Centre’s appeal over recovery of $3.8 bn from RIL maintainable: Delhi HC

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday said it will examine on merits the Centre’s appeal against a single judge’s order dismissing its plea to recover $3.8 billion from Reliance Industries Ltd and B G Exploration and Production India Ltd in connection with a dispute over the Panna-Mukta and Tapti oil and gas fields.

A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Madhu Jain rejected the preliminary objection raised by the two companies on the maintainability of the appeal. “The objection is, accordingly, rejected. As the appeal is now to be heard on merits… list the same before the Roster Bench on February 17, 2026,” the court said. The bench held that the Centre’s challenge to the single judge’s order required adjudication on merits.

In 1994, the Centre, through ONGC, entered into production sharing contracts with Reliance Industries and Enron Oil and Gas India Ltd for the development of the Tapti and Panna-Mukta oil and gas fields. B G Exploration and Production India Ltd replaced Enron in 2004. Disputes later arose between the parties over profit sharing, royalties and related issues, following which the private companies initiated arbitration proceedings.

In 2019, the Centre filed an enforcement petition seeking execution of a “final partial award” passed by the arbitral tribunal in 2016 to recover $3.8 billion. However, in July 2023, a single judge of the High Court dismissed the petition as premature, while granting liberty to the Centre to seek execution at an appropriate stage. Reliance Industries and B G Exploration had argued that the Centre’s appeal was not maintainable as the single judge’s order did not refuse enforcement of the arbitral award.