“The real purpose of supply of gas to the Anil Ambani firm was for promoting electricity plant and not promoting trading in gas,” senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for RIL, told a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan.

“The idea was to promote power distribution and transmission company... Clause (2) of the family MoU which the demerger scheme picks up as an important clause deals with promoting power plant and not for making money on trading of gas,” he submitted before the Bench, also comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and P Sathasivam. Anil Ambani’s RNRL had sought immediate supply of gas as per the Bombay High Court order of July 15. This was opposed by RIL which said the gas was meant for the proposed plant in Dadri in U P which had not come up and not for trading. The Ambani brothers are locked in a bitter battle over the supply and price of the gas from KG basin.

While RNRL is seeking gas at a committed price of USD 2.34 per unit, RIL says it cannot honour the commitment made in the family agreement due to government’s pricing and gas policies. RIL, which has maintained that the family MoU of 2005 could not be the document for arriving at suitable arrangement for the supply of gas, said it (MoU) only sets down the ‘road map and guidance’.