New Delhi, November 4
Citing conflict of interest, Justice RV Raveendran today pulled out of the three-member Supreme Court Bench hearing the gas dispute case of the Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil. The Bench, headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, has already heard the arguments of senior counsel Harish Salve, who appeared for Mukesh-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), for about a week. However, the arguments will now begin all over again tomorrow before a reconstituted Bench, of which Justice B Sudershan Reddy is a new member.
As the court was all set for resuming the hearing in the case today, Justice Raveendran said he came to know only yesterday that his daughter was associated with a law firm which was advising a Mukesh group of companies on projects relating to global acquisitions.
“I am recusing myself from hearing this matter,” he said, because of the possible conflict of interest arising from the fact that his daughter was working for Bangalore-based AZB partners since September 1.
In fact, Justice Raveendran had disclosed on the first day of hearing that he held equal number of shares both in RIL and Anil's Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) and would withdraw himself from the Bench if any party had any objection. But the counsel for both sides said they had no problem with his being part of the Bench, which also included Justice P Sathasivam. RIL has challenged the Bombay High Court order that had directed it to supply gas from its Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin site to RNRL at $2.34 a unit, against the government fixed price of $4.2.
In another case, Justice Markandey Katju, who was part of the Bench which heard the dispute between RIL and state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd , recused himself after reserving the judgment in September, saying his wife held shares in RIL.
