Orders FIR against RIL, Petroleum minister for ‘inflating’ gas prices
teamherald@herald-goa.com
NEW DELHI: Delhi Government’s anti-corruption bureau has its jurisdiction only on the territory of Delhi, but Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal doesn’t think so as he asked it to register FIR against top industrialist Mukesh Ambani and his Reliance Industries, accusing it of “making windfall gain by charging double for gas from KG Basin off Andhra Pradesh coast.”
He also named Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily and former minister Murli Deora and former director general hydrocarbons VK Sibal as part of the Mukesh Ambani’s “gang” looting India. Making the sensational charge at a press conference here, he said: “Those who don’t have any alliance with Mukesh Ambani should stand with us in this fight.”
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ideologue Yogendra Yadav tweets tweeted it as “big step in fight against corruption.”
Kejriwal did not give a straight answer to questions on jurisdiction of Delhi government to probe the matter, but instead asserted that he was acting on a complaint filed by former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian, Admiral Tahiliani, former Navy Chief and eminent lawyer Kamini Jaiswal besides a former Expenditure Secretary. They are the concerned citizens and not ordinary people, he remarked. Their complaint relates to alleged “collusion between some Union ministers and Reliance Industries Ltd” that purportedly resulted in the decision to double the gas price from April 1,” he said.
“Today we have asked the ACB to probe the case. We are filing a criminal case against Murli Deora. FIRs are being filed against Moily, Mukesh Ambani, VK Sibal, Reliance Industries Ltd and others,” he said, asserting that the Reliance Industries Ltd was benefited as Petroleum Ministry decided to hike from April 1 the natural gas price to $8 per million British thermal unit as against current $4.2.
He alleged that RIL did not produce adequate gas from eastern offshore KG Basin block so as to put pressure on the Government to hike the price.
Moily was the first to immediately react. "One should sympathise with his ignorance…he doesn’t know how Government runs.” Refuting Kejriwal’s allegation, he said: “Norms are followed. There is a system in fixing prices. I would have shown him how the price was fixed if he had bothered to enquire.”
The Chief Minister said he decided to take up the case since hiking of the price of natural gas will have a “cascading effect” on the economy as rates of transportation, power production, fertilisers and food items will go up significantly.
“I am writing to Prime Minister and the Petroleum Minister to keep the decision in abeyance pending the probe. I will also request PM to direct all ministries to cooperate with the probe,” Kejriwal said.