New Delhi, 30 October (H.S.): The Supreme Court on Friday appointed former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai as the sole mediator in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) Basin gas migration dispute involving Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and its consortium partners.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant passed the order after being informed that the parties had failed to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution despite previous efforts to resolve the dispute through negotiations.

Observing that the parties had been unable to find a viable solution on their own, the court suggested that former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai be requested to act as the mediator. The bench also requested her to seek assistance from two domain experts, whose names could be proposed by the respective parties to facilitate the mediation process.

Attorney General R. Venkataramani, appearing on behalf of the Centre, assured the court that the government would extend full cooperation to the mediator.

The court further directed the parties to contact Justice Desai either on Friday or Saturday and coordinate with her to finalise a suitable date and time for the mediation proceedings, according to her convenience.

On May 20, the Supreme Court had declined Reliance Industries' request to keep the proceedings in the KG Basin gas migration dispute in abeyance. At the time, the company and two other foreign firms had expressed their willingness to explore an amicable settlement with the Centre through negotiations or mediation.

The apex court was hearing appeals filed by Reliance Industries Limited, BP Exploration (Alpha) Limited and Niko Limited against a Delhi High Court judgment that had set aside an arbitral award in favour of the companies in their dispute with the Centre over gas migration.

The long-running dispute concerns allegations of natural gas migrating from adjoining blocks operated by the state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) into the KG Basin block operated by Reliance Industries. The matter has remained the subject of prolonged legal proceedings between the companies and the government.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar