A petition accusing Reliance Industries of allegedly stealing $1.55 billion worth of natural gas from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) wells is set to be heard on November 18, as per a report by LiveLaw.
According to the LiveLaw report, the Bombay High Court had issued a notice on November 4 to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Union government on a petition seeking a probe against Reliance Industries and its chairman, Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani.
Petition urges criminal case against Reliance Industries
As per the oetition filed, Reliance Industries has allegedly carried out a “massive organised fraud” between 2004 and 2013-14 by drilling sideways from its deep-sea wells into ONGC’s adjacent blocks in the Krishna Godavari Basin. This, the petitioner claims, led to illegal extraction of natural gas from ONGC’s reservoirs.
According to LiveLaw, the petition urges the court to direct the CBI and Govt to register a criminal case against Reliance Industries and its directors for alleged theft, dishonest misappropriation, and breach of trust. The petitioner claims that the conspiracy originated in Mumbai, giving the CBI jurisdiction to investigate.
He has also sought seizure of all documents related to the case, including contracts, investigation reports, and the findings of the A.P. Shah Committee (which had quantified the value of the extracted gas at over $1.55 billion, with accrued interest of $174.9 million), LiveLaw reported.
ONGC discovered alleged gas extraction in 2013
The case has an old history. The alleged unauthorised extraction was discovered by ONGC officials in 2013 itself and reported it to the government. Reliance Industries, however, maintained that the gas was “migratory” in nature, meaning it naturally moved across fields, and therefore it had the right to extract it.
Earlier this year, RIL had won an arbitral award in its favour in the dispute with ONGC. However, the Delhi High Court, in its February 14 order, set aside the award, ruling that it was against public policy and contrary to the interests of the Union of India.
Important to note that an independent assessment by US-based consultancy DeGolyer and MacNaughton (D&M) reportedly confirmed that RIL had tapped gas from ONGC’s fields without authorisation.