ONGC-RIL gas exploitation dispute: HC intervention sought

An activist lawyer and a former bureaucrat today moved the Delhi High Court seeking its intervention in ONGC's petition accusing Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) of exploiting gas worth Rs 30,000 crore from the PSU's natural gas block in Krishna-Godavri basin.
Justice Manmohan issued notice to the Centre, RIL and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and sought their responses on the intervention application of former Secretary to the Government of India E A S Sarma and advocate Kamini Jaiswal who have alleged that the PSU is being pressured to withdraw its writ petition.
They have claimed that apart from the earlier government's alleged pressure on ONGC to withdraw its plea, the present regime has also supported RIL and admonished the PSU for filing the petition.

"The government has sought dismissal of the petition by calling it frivolous," the application, filed through advocates Prashant Bhushan and Pranav Sachdeva, has said.
The application has also stated that ONGC's petition raises "serious issues..."
The two applicants have stated that "non-resolution of the issues raised in ONGC's petition would have a serious adverse impact on public interest.