Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: The Ambani gas dispute case hit a fresh roadblock on Wednesday with Supreme Court Judge RV Raveendran withdrawing himself from the bench hearing the case, citing conflict of interest.
"I am recusing myself from hearing this matter since I
came to know only yesterday that my daughter is associated
with a solicitors firm which is advising the Mukesh Ambani
group in other matters relating to projects of Global
acquisitions," Raveendran said when the matter came up.
The judge said he came to know only yesterday that law
firm AZB Partners in Bangalore with which his daughter Sunitha
Rajesh is associated since September 1 this year is advising
the Mukesh Ambani group in other projects.
Justice B Sudershan Reddy will take the place of
Justice Raveendran in the three-judge Bench headed by Chief
Justice K G Balakrishnan, which will hear the case afresh from
tomorrow.
Justice Raveendran, who held equal shares of both RIL
and Anil Ambani's RNRL, which are pitched in a legal battle
over the supply and pricing of gas from the KG Basin, had
offered to recuse when the hearing had started on October 20.
However, when none of the parties objected, he
continued to be the part of the Bench and heard the matter for
six days.
Justice Raveendran said, "The issue is my daughter is
associated with a firm which is advising one of the parties in
another project and I would not like to hear the matter".
The judge said even though his daughter is in no way
involved in the matter, his concern is that the "credibility
and confidence" of the institution is maintained.
"My conscience is clear and I feel that justice should
not only be done but should seem to be done. That is the
tradition of this court," he said.
"I am sorry that six days of valuable time of this
court has been wasted," he said adding, "I wish that somebody
should have brought to our notice earlier about my daughter's
association with the firm."
Justice Raveendran, while recusing himself, said "till
now only RIL was advancing the arguments and RNRL has not
started. So it is not late to dissociate myself from hearing
the matter."
Later, when he was asked by reporters on the
sidelines of a function why he had done so, the judge said
"whatever I had to say, I have mentioned it in the court. I
have no further comments to make".
In an unrelated matter, Justice Markandey Katju, who
was a part of the Bench which heard the dispute between RIL
and state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL),
recused himself after reserving the judgement in September,
saying that his wife held shares in RIL.
When the matter came up in the court, senior advocate
Ram Jethmalani, appearing for RNRL, urged Justice Raveendran
to continue with the Bench as the hearing on the dispute has
gone for several days. RIL's counsel and senior advocate Harish Salve also
shared the views of Jethmalani. and said though there
has been relentless media pressure, Justice Raveendran should
ignore it and hear the matter.
However, Justice Raveendran declined the request,
saying he has no option left but to recuse himself from
hearing the matter.
The two brothers are fighting a legal battle over supply of gas from Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) D-6 block in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL).
RNRL is seeking gas from RIL at rates 44 per cent
lower than Government-approved price. RIL says it cannot
honour the commitment made in the 2005 family agreement due to
Government's pricing and gas policies.
Commenting on the developments in the Supreme Court
today, RIL in its statement said it was "neither aware nor
solicitors firm AZB Partners informed us that Justice R V
Raveendran's daughter is associated with the Bangalore office
of AZB.
"This fact came as a surprise to our senior counsel
(Harish Salve) and us. AZB Partners which has been advising us
from time to time should have informed us of this fact and RIL
regrets that six working days of the honourable court were
lost," the company said.