On a prayer of RNRL that the Apex Court should start the final hearing on the issue from September 1, a bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said it will decide on the date of final hearing on September 1, the day when all petitions related to the dispute are scheduled to come up for consideration.
RNRL wants gas from RIL at $2.34 per mmBtu, while RIL contends it cannot fix price without government's consent -- a point separately amplified by the oil ministry in its petition before Supreme Court.
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The apex court said it will try to give an early date but the first week of September is not possible.
When the RNRL prayer came up for mentioning, the company's counsel Mukul Rohtagi requested that the final hearing be taken up on September one, as the entire Bombay high court record was before the Apex Court and there was nothing was left to be filed.
Additional Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran said the government too wanted early resolution of the dispute. RIL counsel Harish Salve said he had no problem on early final hearing, but wondered "what public interest would this serve."
When the court enquired whether the petitioner wanted interim arrangement on September 1 or the final order, Rohtagi said that RNRL was not looking for interim arrangement.
At this point Salve requested the court that there should be complete silence from all parties and that people are going to the media. In response, Rohatagi said, "It's raised everywhere."
Seeking an early resolution to the gas supply dispute involving Mukesh Ambani-led RIL and the oil ministry, Anil Ambani has said that his group firm RNRL would approach the Supreme Court for final hearing on September 1.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on September 1 cross-appeals by both Ambani group firms, as also a petition by the Union petroleum ministry against a Bombay high court order that asked RIL to supply gas to RNRL at $2.34 per mmBtu against the officially prescribed $4.2 per mmBtu.