The government, on Tuesday, informed the Supreme Court that in the light of the Election Commission’s directive to defer the hike in gas price for Reliance, it would not notify the proposed increase from $4.2 to $8.4 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu) from April 1.
Solicitor-General Mohan Parasaran made this submission before a Bench of Justices B.S. Chauhan, J. Chelameswar and Kurian Joseph, while hearing a batch of petitions filed by Common Cause and CPI Member of Parliament Gurudas Dasgupta, challenging the proposed hike in gas price.
Mr. Parasaran said: “There was no formal order hiking the prices. No actual order has been passed. There is no price fixation. It is only a formula.” Additional Solicitor-General L. Nageswara Rao, appearing for the Petroleum Ministry, said: “The Election Commission has said don’t give effect to it. So, we can’t give effect to it.”
Justice Chauhan asked Mr. Parasaran if there was “a need to go into a mere recommendation or guideline in the absence of any formal order. Is it a recommendation or a decision? Is it your case that there is no positive order to double the price or hike the prices?”
Mr. Parasaran made it clear that there was no actual order to hike prices, and only a formula had been approved.
“In that case, can we go into the legality of any such decision if it was not an order but was only a recommendation or a guideline?” Justice Chauhan said.
Senior counsel Colin Gonsalves, appearing for Mr. Dasgupta, said as the gas pricing policy had been notified, the court could examine its validity.
Justice Chelameswar said: “I such a case, the court would have to look into the issue. What are the consequences of this? It creates rights in favour of some parties.” In their plea, the petitioners said the government had acted illegally, unreasonably, irrationally and malafide in granting excessive benefits to the respondents, thereby virtually bankrupting the exchequer and adversely affecting the Indian economy as a whole.
Counsel Prashant Bhushan, appearing for Common Cause, maintained that the government decision to hike prices was “arbitrary, malafide and against public interest.”
Arguments will continue on Wednesday.
