Supreme Court dismisses Adani's plea against gas distribution bids in Ahmedabad

In a setback to Adani Gas the Supreme Court on September 28 dismissed its plea challengings the bidding process for the supply of PNG and CNG in three areas of Ahmedabad districtA bench of Justices UU Lalit S Ravindra Bhat and Hrishikesh Roy upheld the Gujarat High Courts September 2018 judgment which allowed the supply of natural gas as a clean and green fuel in the three areas of outer Ahmedabad region by staterun gas distributor Gujarat GasAdani had challenged the validity of Regulation 18 of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board PNGRB authorising entities to lay build operate or expand city or local natural gas distribution networks Regulations 2008 as violative of Articles 14 and 191g of the Constitution and ultra vires Section 16 of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act 2006Adani Gas in the bidding process which was carried out by the PNGRB in 2016 lost to staterun Gujarat Gas Ltd to supply PNG and CNG in Sanand Bavla and Dholka areas of the districtIn its 79page judgment the top court said It is held that Regulation 18 is neither arbitrary nor ultra vires The objective underlying Regulation 18 is compatible with the overall objectives of the PNGRB Act Regulation 18 is not contraindicated by any specific provision of the Act Further as a sectoral regulator the PNGRB is entrusted with the power to frame appropriate regulations to ensure the objectives of the Act and thus the challenge to Regulation 18 cannot succeedThe bench said that the PNGRB is entrusted with the power to frame appropriate regulations and also bring about fairness in the marketplace It held that Adanis claim is precluded by the principle of approbatereprobate as the company accepted authorisation granted by the PNGRB including exclusion of disputed areas furnished the performance bond and even participated in the auction for the excluded areas Only thereafter challenged authorisation when its bid was unsuccessful It is held that exclusion of the disputed areas was justified in the overall facts and circumstances the bench notedGujarat Gas submitted that Adani was always aware of its rights and availed the opportunity to participate in the bidding for the disputed excluded areas and therefore cannot be allowed to question the decision of the PNGRB to grant a license to it for some areasAlso Read Supertech moves Supreme Court to save twin 40storey towers from being razed in entirety suggests planGujarat Gas had complained against Adani to the regulator accusing it of unauthorised expansion of its gas distribution network in the three areas of the districtThe top court noted that role of the state government in granting NOC is only supportive or collaborative in terms of the Centres 2006 policy and cannot confer any advantage to any entity which has to seek and be granted specific authorisation in terms of the PNGRB Act on the merits of its application The top court dismissed Adanis appeal and also imposed a cost of Rs 10 lakh which would be payable to the CentreThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever