Bombay HC Rejects Plea Seeking Criminal Proceedings Against Reliance In $1.5 Bn Natural Gas Siphoning Dispute

The Bombay High Court on Friday rejected a petition against Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries for allegedly extracting natural gas worth over $1.5 billion from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s (ONGC) Krishna–Godavari Basin fields.

The petition had sought a criminal investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), according to a report by Bar and Bench.

The petition was filed by activist Jitendra Maru. While the legal relief has ended concerns of criminal proceedings, the underlying allegation of unlawful extraction of natural gas still lingers over the country’s largest public enterprise.

Maru had sought initiation of criminal proceedings based on the findings of a DeGolyer & MacNaughton (D&M) report and a committee headed by retired Justice AP Shah. Both reports concluded that Reliance had tapped into ONGC’s reserves, valued at over $1.55 billion.

On November 19, 2015, D&M said that “the integrated analyses indicated connectivity and continuity of the reservoirs across the blocks operated by ONGC and RIL,” validating ONGC’s stand.

The Shah Committee considered the D&M report and approved the findings. Based on the committee report, the oil ministry had raised a demand of $1.5 billion and $174 million in interest from RIL for “unjust enrichment” by the company.

Reliance had signed a production-sharing contract (PSC) with the government in April 2000 for gas extraction in the KG basin. The conflict escalated in 2013 when ONGC asserted that RIL’s block and its reservoirs had lateral continuity.

An international arbitration tribunal had ruled in favour of RIL in July 2018. However, this award was later set aside by the Delhi High Court in February 2025, which deemed it against the public policy of India.

Maru’s petition sought to use this development to argue that the matter extends beyond civil or arbitral territory and potentially involves criminal liability. However, the Bombay High Court bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Suman Shyam dismissed the plea.

Reliance has challenged the Delhi High Court’s order in the Supreme Court last year.