14.2.14

On Gas Price Fixing....

Petroleum minister Veerappa Moily, RIL chief Mukesh Ambani, former Union minister Murli Deora and retired Director General of Hydrocarbons V K Sibal were named in an FIR by the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi government.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday had called for FIRs to be filed against Ambani and Moily, among others, alleging that they were fixing gas prices.
Kejriwal said the anti-corruption board was directed to probe the case based on a complaint filed by former cabinet secretary TSR Subrmanian, former Navy chief Admiral R H Tahiliani, eminent lawyer Kamini Jaiswal and ex union secretary EAS Sarma.
The registered complaint references the complaint that the law minister and Ambani are colluding to inflate the prices of gas produced from the D-6 block off East Delhi which is operated by Reliance. Kejriwal accused Reliance of creating an artificial shortage to "blackmail" the government to set higher prices.
The centre in December cleared a price hike starting April 1 which is expected to result in prices that are double the current level. Kejriwal has asked the Prime Minister to suspend the order to raise gas prices till the issue is resolved.
Meanwhile, Reliance called Kejriwal's allegations ‘shocking’ and said it could take legal action in response.
Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court sought a response from the AAP government on a plea seeking to restrain it from holding a session outside the assembly to fulfil the poll promise of clearing the Jan Lokpal Bill.
“Is there any provision to hold an assembly session outside the designated place?,” a bench of justices B D Ahmed and Siddharth Mridul said and asked the Delhi government counsel to apprise it on the government’s stand by Thursday.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Kedar Kumar Mandal, a professor with Delhi University, seeking to restrain the Kejriwal government from holding the session outside the assembly building on the ground that it is a ‘populist’ decision, which is not in consonance of the settled law.
The counsel appearing for the Delhi government, however, sought dismissal of the petition on grounds that it is a premature one and more over the L-G has to act as per the‘aid and advice’ of the ministers. 

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