The government has decided to amend the special leave petition filed with the Supreme Court as a party to the ongoing legal dispute between brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani over the supply of gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin.

Sources said the decision was taken to strengthen its case at a high-level meeting comprising FM Pranab Mukherjee, petroleum minister Murli Deora and law minister Veerappa Moily on Tuesday night. ?The only consideration on the part of the government will be national interest,? Moily told FE on Wednesday.

According to sources, rather than petitioning the Supreme Court to nullify the entire 2005 memorandum of understanding between the Ambani brothers, the government will now seek to quash only those clauses that pertain to the supply of gas by RIL to RNRL and delink the production-sharing contract between the government and RIL.

The sources also said that henceforth, all legal matters on the issue would be dealt with only by the law ministry. This decision is based on a ruling by the Cabinet secretariat last November.

These steps, significantly, come in the wake of Anil Ambani?s missive to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, accusing the petroleum ministry of favouring Mukesh Ambani-led RIL. The younger Ambani?s RNRL stakes claim to 28 mscmd of gas from RIL?s K-G basin find at an agreed price of $2.34 per mmbtu for 17 years?which was upheld by the Bombay High Court on June 15.

RIL, for its part, says that the petroleum ministry has fixed a higher $4.2 per mmbtu price and as a contractor, was bound by this. RNRL subsequently moved the apex court to expedite implementation of the High Court order. The government?s SLP, filed earlier this month, seeks the MoU between the two brothers be declared null and void on the ground that private groups could not unilaterally decide terms for the sharing of a national resource.

Meanwhile, Anil Ambani on Wednesday said his company has served notice to RIL and the petroleum ministry. He has also requested the Supreme Court to set September 1 as the final hearing in the legal dispute. ?The Hon?ble Supreme Court has been gracious to fix September 1 for hearing preliminary aspects of the matter,? Anil said.

Sources said when Anil petitions the apex court on Thursday for a September 1 final hearing, it would not be opposed by the government, as it too wants early resolution of the issue.