Court To Hear ONGC Plea Against E-auction Of Natural Gas From KG-Basin

The application has been filed after the Supreme Court declined to entertain the appeals filed by ONGC and the Centre against the order and asked them to approach the high court

The Delhi High Court Friday said it will hear on June 4 a plea by state-run ONGC for vacating an interim order putting on hold its tender notice and the consequent e-auction for sale of natural gas from its block in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh was informed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the application has been filed against the high court's May 20 order as stay of the e-auction was "ultimately leading to loss of public money". The court said it will hear the matter on June 4, the date already fixed on May 20 when the notice inviting tender (NIT) and e-auction were stayed. The application has been filed after the Supreme Court declined to entertain the appeals filed by ONGC and the Centre against the order and asked them to approach the high court for vacation of the interim order. The high court on May 20 had said that a prima facie case was made out in favour of the petitioners -- two GMR group companies -- and balance of convenience was also in their favour, as finalisation of the bidding would cause irreparable loss to them. "We, therefore, stay the operation, implementation, execution, and finalization of the NIT dated April 12, 2021 as well as corrigendum to the NIT issued on April 27, 2021, and the consequent e-auction, till the next date of hearing," the bench had said.