It’s the second week and Tuesday was indeed the fourth day of arguments at the Supreme Court in the high profile battle between the estranged Ambani brothers over the price of gas being produced by RIL from the KG basin. The apex court threw up more questions to understand the dispute.
To start with, the three-judge bench wanted to know if the power plant in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh was ready. The bench also reiterated its observation that the two parties always had an option of arbitration. It also offered to direct a negotiation. The court also observed that the natural gas from the KG basin was a national resource to which RNRL counsel, Ram Jethmalani, responded saying that the company had no problems with the government's gas utilisation policy, which was, he claimed applicable only to new contracts. This daily five hour-long argument may take a long time to be resolved, as the two veteran lawyers, Harish Salve and Ram Jethmalani, slug it out at the top of their voices in the court room.