By India Tomorrow News,
New Delhi, 13 Feb 2014: Following the order of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Delhi government Tuesday evening registered an FIR naming Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, Petroleum Minister M. Veerappa Moily, former petroleum minister Murli Deora and former Director-General of Hydrocarbons V.K. Sibal for their alleged involvement in fixing natural gas prices and hoarding in the KG-D6 (Krishna Godavari) basin. Kejriwal had earlier in the day asked the anti-corruption cell to lodge FIR.
Ambani, Moily, Deora and Sibal have been charged under Section 13 (1) (C) and (D) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, requesting him to suspend the Central government’s decision to hike gas prices from April 1.
On 11 Feb, Aam Aadmi Party issued a detailed complaint and allegations against those named in the FIR later.
The AAP government took the action following the allegations made by former Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramanian, former Navy Chief Admiral R.H. Tahiliani, lawyer Kamini Jaiswal and former Union Secretary E.A.S. Sarma.
Complaint:
According to the 11 Feb official statement of AAP, the complaint stated that gas prices in the country will be doubled from April 1 this year due to the alleged active collusion between the RIL and some ministers of the central government. In case this price hike is allowed to take place, it will make the life of common man miserable since it will have a cascading effect on transport, domestic gas and even electricity prices.
The impact of this hike in gas price would cost the country a minimum of Rs 54,500 crore every year, and in addition to this the central government allowed the RIL to make a future windfall profit of Rs 1.2 lakh crore.
This will have an adverse effect on the household of a common man who uses piped and compressed natural gas (CNG). Farmers will suffer since prices of fertilisers will go up and so would the prices of electricity being generated from gas-based power plants.
Since the decision to double the prices of gas will become effective from April 1 this year, when the term of the UPA government would almost be over, it should have left the decision on gas prices to the next government and this hurry shows a malafide intention of helping this particular corporate house, the RIL.
The government decision to hike the gas price from existing $4.2 (Rs 262.25) per mmbtu (One million British Thermal Unit) to $ 8.4 (Rs 524.20) per mmbtu will make the gas prices in India one of the highest in the world, reads the statement.
The party alleged that the gas prices have been hiked with the sole intention of benefitting the RIL and no attempt was made to determine the cost of production independently and accurately.
There is no explanation as to why when the entire domestic production is consumed internally, then why are the prices fixed in US dollars? the party asked.
AAP alleged that the government took no action against the RIL for its deliberate drop in production and ignored the CAG report and the then Solicitor General’s opinion (in May 2012) and on the contrary accepted the RIL demand for doubling the gas prices from April 1 this year. This is a clear case of causing unimaginable loss to the government exchequer and selling gas at exorbitant price to the common man.
The party claimed that the documents also reveal that the central government ignored letters by several MPs, including CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP Tapan Sen, who had highlighted that the RIL demand for $ 8.8 billion to be spent on infrastructure at KG-D6 should be rejected was ignored and the RIL was allowed a future windfall revenue of Rs 1.2 lakh crore ($ 20 billion).
