Hearing on Reliance plea adjourned to July 12

Mumbai, July 5, (UNI) A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court today adjourned till July 12, hearing on a plea by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) against orders of a single Judge bench favouring Reliance Natural Resources Limited (RNRL), relating to gas supply agreement between the two companies.

RIL had filed a notice of motion against the single Judge bench order, warning RIL that all of its deals related to Krishna Godavari Basin Gas project shall be subject to final outcome of the court proceedings.

Appearing on behalf of RIL, senior counsel Harish Salve contended that the order of the single judge has virtually put on hold the whole gas project and said Reliance Industries has undertaken the gas project with production sharing arrangements with Government of India and a foreign company.

He said because of the court order, entire project has been held up adding that even though the respondent company staked high claims it did not even have a gas based power project to utilise the gas and that the whole matter was nothing but an attempt to scuttle the gas project.

On the other hand, RNRL counsel Mukul Rohatgi alleged that the gas sale agreement, made persuant to the demerger scheme, was made even before control of RNRL company was handed to Anil Ambani led management by Mukesh Ambani and that ''they signed the agreement sitting on both sides of the table''.

During the hearing, both the sides alleged that the other side was playing games. In this backdrop, a remark from the division bench comprising Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice Ranjana Desai that ''you both seem to be in the game'' made the whole courtroom burst into laughter.

UNI