Ambani gas war: Blow to Anil, order favours Mukesh
Govt has full right over gas, not Ambanis: SC
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Billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Friday emerged victorious in the battle with younger brother Anil with the Supreme Court rejecting a plea for cheap gas, saying a national asset should be priced only by the government.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, who demits office on May 11, said that the Ambani family MoU that seeks to divide gas between group firms of the two brothers was not binding, both legally as well as technically.
The Apex Court asked the group firms of the warring siblings to sit together within six weeks and rework within the next eight a gas supply agreement in conformity with the government policy.
The government has already fixed the price of gas from RIL's KG-D6 fields at $4.20 per mmBtu, compared to the $2.34 per mmBtu sought by Anil Ambani group firm RNRL.
However, there was a minor difference within the bench with Justice B Sudershan Reddy holding that the MoU was a private pact, which cannot even be considered, while the other two said it could be a basis for negotiations between the two for a new agreement.
The MoU is part of the Ambani family settlement reached in June 2005 for dividing the Reliance empire between Mukesh and his younger brother Anil.
Welcoming the judgement, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, whom Anil had accused of siding with Mukesh, said: "The Supreme Court verdict upholds the fact that gas belongs to the government and the people. No matter what campaign one ran against the government, the nation is supreme."
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