HC Seeks Centre’s Reply on RIL Recall Plea, Asks to Declare Assets

Justice JR Midha issued notice to the centre on RIL’s application and listed the matter for hearing on 6 February.

Chairman of Reliance Industries Limited Mukesh Ambani.

(Photo: AP)

The Delhi High Court Friday, 10 January, sought the Centre's reply on a plea by Reliance Industries Ltd seeking recall of orders asking it to file an affidavit on its assets.

Justice JR Midha issued notice to the central government on RIL's application and listed the matter for hearing on 6 February.

The application was filed in a pending petition of the government for execution of an arbitral award in its favour.

RIL has sought recall of two previous orders of 22 November and 20 December 2019.

Earlier, the court had passed the two orders on an application by central government in which it had sought directions to RIL and British Gas (BG) not to dispose of their assets.

In the application, the government has sought to restrain the two companies from disposing of their assets as they have allegedly failed to pay it over USD 3.85 billion as per an arbitral award in favour of the Centre in relation to the Panna-Mukta and Tapti (PMT) production-sharing contracts.

The high court on 20 December 2019, had directed the two companies to file an affidavit of their assets in accordance with the new format of form 16A under the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) that the high court has drafted in a recent judgement.

On 22 November 2019, the high court had directed the two companies to file their affidavits on assets in form 16A of CPC and had listed the matter for compliance on 20 December.  

On 20 December 2019 the court directed the companies to file the affidavits according to the new format of form 16A.

The Centre in its application has alleged that RIL is under a huge group debt and it was in the process of selling or transferring or alienating its assets and creating third-party interest in the movable and immovable properties to cover its liabilities.

It has said in the application that if RIL liquidates its assets and properties, there would be nothing left for the government to execute the arbitral award.