Reliance Industries says Rs 10 lakh Supreme Court order in NTPC gas case was ‘costs’, not fine

Synopsis

Reliance Industries on Tuesday clarified to stock exchanges that the Supreme Court did not impose a Rs 10 lakh fine or penalty on the company in the NTPC gas supply case. RIL said the amount ordered by the court was costs payable to the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association and did not require disclosure.

Reliance Industries said the Supreme Court’s ₹10 lakh order in the NTPC gas case was costs payable to the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association, not a fine or penalty.

Reliance Industries on Tuesday clarified to stock exchanges that the Supreme Court did not impose a fine or penalty of Rs 10 lakh on the company in a dispute involving gas supplies to NTPC.

The company said the Rs 10 lakh amount ordered by the Supreme Court was “costs” payable by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association, and not a fine or penalty levied on the company.

RIL was responding to a letter/email dated August 17 from the stock exchanges seeking clarification on the news report, “SC slaps Rs 10 lakh fine on Reliance Industries for delaying NTPC gas supply suit”.

The company cited the operative portion of the Supreme Court's August 14 order, which said: “For the reasons stated above, the appeal is dismissed with costs quantified at Rs.10 lakhs payable by the appellant-RIL to Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association. The amount shall be paid within a period of five weeks from today.”

The Supreme Court had on August 14 dismissed RIL's appeal against a Bombay High Court decision concerning the redaction of portions of examination-in-chief affidavits submitted by an NTPC witness in the long-running commercial dispute.

The bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe expressed strong concern over the time taken in the case, which originated in a natural gas supply contract dispute dating back to 2005.

The court observed that the suit filed by NTPC in 2005 “has not progressed much” and said there had been obstruction at every stage. It also noted that seven years had passed since the Supreme Court had directed that the suit be disposed of within nine months.

The court said RIL's litigation and objections had repeatedly resulted in proceedings moving from the trial court to appellate and special-leave jurisdictions.

RIL said the distinction between costs and a fine or penalty was relevant to its disclosure obligations under securities regulations.

“Accordingly, no disclosure was required to be filed by the Company under Regulation 30 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015,” the company said.

The Supreme Court's order requires RIL to pay the Rs 10 lakh costs to the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association within five weeks from August 14.