The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought reply from Indraprastha Gas Ltd, the petroleum ministry and others on a PNGRB plea seeking permission to issue licences for retailing CNG and piped gas in view of the government notifying regulations that give powers to it.
PNGRB informed the court through senior counsel Harish Salve that the government has notified Section 16 of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act (PNGRB), 2006, on July 15, that conferred powers on it to issue city gas distribution licences and common or contract carrier pipelines.
The government had notified the relevant regulation pursuant to the Delhi High Court in January holding that PNGRB had no powers to issue such licences and the authorisations issued by it were not valid in the absence of the relevant section not being notified.
A Bench headed by Justice Dalveer Bhandari issued notice to IGL, the ministry and Voice of India, an NGO, on the Board?s application, which also sought early adjudication in the pending matters ?for protecting the environment, enhancing productivity and in the overall interest of the consumers? and its ?proper functioning.?
The Board sought permission to process pending applications for granting licences for retailing CNG and piped gas in respect of all towns including Allahabad, Chandigarh, Rajahmundry, Jhansi, Yanam and Shahdol ?in the interest of justice so that the development of natural gas sector for the benefit of consumers and the environment continues unhampered.?
?Various observations made by the high court with respect to the functioning of the Board have affected the internal work and have created impasse in the petroleum and natural gas sector. It is imperative that to undo this impasse…? the application stated.
The PNGRB, which is to regulate petroleum product and natural gas sector, came into existence in October 2007 but Section 16 of the Act was not notified by the government till July this year.
PNGRB had challenged the high court?s ruling that raised serious concerns over the function of the PNGRB and held that all decisions should be taken collectively and not by the Chairman and the secretary alone. IGL, which had pre-PNGRB authorisation for CNG operations in Ghaziabad, and Voice-of-India, a non-government organisation, had challenged PNGRB?s move in the high court.