Former Australian judge slams govt before quitting KG-D6 arbitration body

Michael McHugh was appointed as third arbitrator to decide if the govt was right in disallowing recovery of $2.37 bn of KG-D6 cost

Former Australian judge Michael McHugh, appointed by the Supreme Court to adjudicate on Reliance Industries' KG-D6 dispute, has, before quitting the tribunal, slammed the government’s interpretation of his statements.

McHugh, who was on April 29 appointed by the apex court as third arbitrator to a tribunal to decide if the government was right in disallowing recovery of $2.37 billion of KG-D6 cost for gas output lagging targets, had initially declined the offer, saying his consent was not taken.

He, however, later agreed after lawyers for KG-D6 partners contacted him on May 29, explaining the process. But the government and its lawyers maintained he could not return once he had declined the offer, a stand that finally made him quit the tribunal on July 20.

Before quitting, however, he wrote to government lawyers saying his email on May 25, expressing intention of not accepting the Supreme Court offer, cannot be construed as withdrawal from the tribunal until the court accepts the move.

"It is well established that, although a military officer... may tender his resignation, it has no effect until accepted," he wrote. "Similarly, it may be the case that there cannot be a 'withdrawal'... in the case of a Court-appointed arbitrator until the Court accepts the withdrawal." He said there may be questions if the statement in his May 25 email constitutes a withdrawal. "A withdrawal from an office pre-supposes a prior acceptance of the office, and my statement in that email may amount to no more than a statement that I would not be accepting the office, not that I was withdrawing from an accepted appointment to that office," he wrote on July 8.

In the email, copies of which were also marked to V N Khare and S P Bharucha, former Chief Justices of the Supreme Court, appointed by the government and RIL as their arbitrators, respectively, to the tribunal, McHugh said his appointment as chairman of the tribunal was made by the Supreme Court and not by the parties.