Two apex court judges quit hearing Reliance lawsuits (Roundup)

Two judges of the Supreme Court Wednesday withdrew themselves from hearing cases involving Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries over possible conflict of interest.

Justice R.V. Raveendran withdrew himself from hearing the dispute between companies headed by the two Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil, over supply and pricing of natural gas.

Likewise, Justice Markanadey Katju recused himself from the hearing involving Bharat Petroleum, saying his wife owned shares in Reliance Industries.

Justice Raveendran quit, saying his daughter worked for Bangalore-based AZB Associates, which provides consultancy to Reliance Industries on issues of global acquisition, adding that he learnt of this only last weekend.

He had been hearing the high-profile legal battle along with Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishanan and Justice P. Sathasivam. Hours after Justice Raveendran quit, the chief justice got Justice B. Sudershan Reddy on his bench to hear the case from Thursday.

"I know my conscience is clear. But justice should not only be done, but also seen to be done for upholding the respect and dignity of the institution," Justice Raveendran said.

"I wish somebody would have brought it to my notice earlier. That is the tradition of this court," he added.

Justice Raveendran quit the hearing when Harish Salve, counsel for Reliance Industries, was to conclude his argument. The matter will now be heard afresh by a new three-member bench, beginning Thursday.

Both Salve and Ram Jethmalani, counsel for Reliance Natural Resources, tried to persuade the judge to continue. But Justice Raveendran did not concede.

After he quit, both counsel wanted the case to be heard by the two remaining judges on the bench, but Chief Justice Balakrishnan said the case was meant to be heard by a three judge bench.

The court decided to hear the matter afresh, hoping Reliance Industries would complete its arguments by Nov 12.

During the course of hearing the arguments by Salve, Justice Raveendran asked several probing questions, while also passing several comments to elicit a response.

He said Oct 29 that if the natural gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin is sold at a lower price, the whole country would stand to gain, while Reliance Industries alone would benefit if the consideration was higher.

Justice Raveendran also asked why Reliance Industries couldn't supply gas to Reliance Natural at $2.34 per unit, as the company will still make a profit at that price. He observed that $2.34 was also the price agreed for gas sale to the state-run NTPC.

The dispute is over the supply of 28 million units of natural gas for 17 years at $2.34 per unit to Reliance Natural Resources from the Krishna-Godavari fields, off the Andhra Pradesh coast, that was awarded for exploration and harnessing to Reliance Industries.

The price, tenure and quantity were all based on a family reorganisation pact in 2005 but Reliance Industries subsequently said it could only sell it for $4.20 per unit, claiming this was the price fixed by the government.

The Bombay High Court had given the verdict in favour of Reliance Natural Resources, which was then challenged in the Supreme Court by the Mukesh Ambani-led firm.

The case from which Justice Katju withdrew related to a dispute over the price of naphtha supplied by the state-owned Bharat Petroleum to Reliance Industries.

Justice Katju withdrew from the case, saying his wife owned Reliance Industries shares. He had already completed the hearing and had reserved his ruling Sep 1.

Last updated on Nov 4^th, 2009 at 20:59 pm IST--IANS