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Informist, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Friday fined Reliance Industries Ltd. for delaying a suit filed by NTPC Ltd. for two decades regarding a contract to supply natural gas, observing that the power of the RIL to litigate and obstruct progress of the suit seems unlimited. There is no dearth of financial resources, no obligation to aid and assist the court to cope with pending backlog of cases, perhaps it is lucrative for Reliance Industries to raise some objection or the other at every stage and when the trial court rejects it, the appellate and special leave jurisdictions open up, said a bench of Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe.

 

"...it is compelling for us to note that the suit filed by NTPC way back in 2005 has not progressed much. At every stage there has been obstruction," said the top court. Seven years have passed since the apex court directed the suit to be disposed of in nine months, it said. "It is compelling for us to reiterate such a direction and request the (Bombay) High Court to take up and dispose of the suit as expeditiously as possible. High Court will take note that permitting a party to a suit to prolong the litigation is also a sad reflection of the way courts conduct their proceedings," it said.

 

The apex court rejected Reliance Industries' plea against the Bombay High Court's order to redact certain portions of examination-in-chief affidavits of NTPC's witness B.K. Ganguly. "..the appeal is dismissed with costs quantified at Rs. 10 lakhs (INR 1 million) 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," said the top court.

 

The case has its genesis from NTPC publishing a request for qualification, inviting prospective bidders to submit proposals for supply of natural gas to its power plants. Reliance Industries submitted its financial proposal following which a letter of intent was issued to it in 2004. However, due to non-compliance of the obligations arising out of the letter of intent, NTPC filed a suit for declaration that there exists a binding contract for supply of natural gas.

 

Essentially, NTPC sought specific performance of contract for supply of 132 trillion British thermal units of natural gas for a period of 17 years on the premise that the terms of contract incorporated in the letter were unconditionally accepted by RIL. However, the case has witnessed three rounds of litigation in a span of two decades. "Stage-1 relating to chamber summons for discovery and inspection took four years to conclude. Stage-2 relating to chamber summons for production of internal documents took more than a year and Stage-3 relating to redaction of inadmissible statements commencing from 2016 concluded with the judgment of this Court in 2019, took full three years," said the top court. In all, two decades have passed by and the suit is still at the stage of evidence, it said.

 

Friday, shares of Reliance Industries closed 0.5% lower at INR 1,310.00 on the National Stock Exchange, the shares of NTPC ended 1.2% lower at INR 340.00.  

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

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