Centre, CBI, RIL gets SC notice for KG block

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to central government, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and others on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking cancellation of contract for exploration of oil and gas concerning the KG block, to impose penalty for failure to adhere to commitments as well as probe in the alleged ‘collusion between RIL and the political establishment’.

A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam asked all the respondents to file their response within four weeks and tagged the petition with CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta, who had also filed a PIL on the issue and the bench had earlier issued notice to the central government, RIL and petroleum minister Veerappa Moily.

The petition has been filed filed by Common Cause, T S R Subramanian (former Cabinet Secretary, Govt of India), Admiral (Retd.) L Ramdas (former Chief of Naval Staff) and Shri Ramaswamy R Iyer (former Secretary, Govt of India). 

It has sought a direction from the court to the central government to cancel its Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and NIKO reources on exploration of natural gas from KG basin, alleging deliberate under-production with mala fide intentions. The petition alleges that the government’s action in this case showed that it had played a fraud on the people and the Constitution of India.