High Court to examine Reliance Industries Ltd's Krishna Godavari basin gas deal

Hyderabad: The allotment of gas exploration contracts in the Krishna Godavari basin to Reliance Industries Ltd came under the judicial scanner on Monday . The AP High Court issued notices to the Centre and the state government, the director-general of hydrocarbons and also to Reliance Industries on a public interest litigation filed by Mr Palem Srikanth Reddy, president of Janapalana Party and an NRI from Kadapa district. Mr Reddy urged the court to order a CBI probe into the allocation of the D6 Block in the KG Basin to Reliance Industries by the Centre and the state governments, then headed by the BJP and the Telugu Desam, in 2000.

He said that Mr Chandrababu Naidu, who was convener of the National Democratic Alliance in 2000, was instrumental in Reliance bagging the contract. He alleged that all political parties had connived in awarding the contract to RIL against the interests of AP.

The petitioner alleged that RIL had bagged the contract with the support of Mr Naidu who had not tried to ensure that Reliance supplied gas to the state. He told the court that RIL had allegedly scuttled the chances of the state government in availing of its legitimate share of gas from the KG Basin.

A division bench comprising Justice G. Rohini and Justice T. Sunil Chowdary was hearing the petition. The petition was listed before this bench after Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar recused from hearing the PIL when it had been come up before the bench of the Chief Justice on Monday last. Mr Srikanth Reddy said that gas was a national wealth and RIL was only the contractor for extracting it.