The Bombay High Court dismissed a plea seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into allegations that Reliance Industries Limited unlawfully extracted gas from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation fields in the Krishna–Godavari Basin; detailed reasons are awaited.
MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court dismissed a petition seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations that Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) unlawfully extracted natural gas from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s (ONGC) Krishna–Godavari Basin field.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Suman Shyam issued the order. Detailed reasons are awaited.
Activist Jitendra Maru’s petition alleged that RIL drilled deep‑sea wells between 2004 and 2013–14 in a manner that allowed gas from adjacent ONGC blocks to migrate into its KG‑D6 block. Maru characterised the conduct as a “massive organised fraud.”
He sought registration of an FIR for offences including theft, dishonest misappropriation and criminal breach of trust, and asked the CBI to seize drilling data, contracts and government reports.
The High Court had previously directed the CBI and the Union government to file responses to Maru’s plea. The petition relied on findings in a DeGolyer & MacNaughton (D&M) report and a committee led by retired Justice A.P. Shah, both of which concluded that RIL had tapped into ONGC’s reserves valued at more than Rs 1.55 billion.
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The dispute stems from a production‑sharing contract (PSC) signed in April 2000 between the Union government and RIL (and its consortium partners) for gas extraction in the KG basin. The row intensified in 2013 when ONGC claimed lateral continuity between RIL’s block and its reservoirs.
An international arbitration tribunal initially ruled in favour of RIL in July 2018, but that award was set aside by the Delhi High Court in February 2025, which found the award to be against India’s public policy. Maru sought to rely on that development to contend the matter might involve criminal liability beyond civil or arbitral issues.
The High Court rejected that plea today.
Case Title: Jitendra Maru v. Central Bureau of Investigation & Ors.
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