By Rana Ajit. Delhi, India, 10:01 PM IST

The oil ministry's affidavit on the Krishna-Godavari gas dispute is not worth the paper it is written on and must be summarily rejected as it fails to follow even basic technicalities, Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) told the Supreme Court Thursday.

'After digging all the mountain and raising rabble, they have produced a mouse -- no, not a mouse, but a bandicoot,' RNRL counsel Ram Jethmalani told the bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Justice B. Sudershan Reddy and Justice P. Sathasivam.

'The affidavit is not worth the paper on which it's been written. It must be summarily rejected,' counsel told the three-judge bench, which has been hearing the dispute between RNRL and Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).

To begin with, Jethmalani said, the government officer filing the affidavit is expected to swear by its contents and affirm that it is true to his knowledge and belief.

'But he verifies that the contents are based on the records of the government and the advice received, which he believes to be true,' he said, objecting to the lack of basic and proper verification in the affidavit.

'Who has advised you? You might have been advised by RIL counsel Harish Salve?' Jethmalani said, charging that the document may have been filed with the intention of protecting RIL's interests at the cost of his client and state-run power utility NTPC.

'The source of information must be clearly spellt out,' he said. 'Why is the government so incompetent that it does not know how to verify the affidavit?' queried Jethmalani, invoking peals of laughter in the courtroom.

His argument eventually forced Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium, appearing on behalf of the oil ministry, to concede that the affidavit had been filed with government documents, but that failed to assuage the RNRL counsel.

'There should be no reason why incompetence of the government should be carried here.'

The apex court has been hearing the dispute over the supply of 28 million units of gas for 17 years at $2.34 per unit to RNRL from the gas fields off the Andhra Pradesh coast, awarded to RIL.

The price, tenure and quantity were based on a 2005 family pact, but RIL subsequently said it could only sell the gas for $4.20 per unit, as this was the price, the company claimed, fixed by the government.

In its affidavit, the oil ministry said the price offered by the contractor, RIL, for gas to be supplied to NTPC will require scrutiny of the government under the production-sharing contract.

'The rights of NTPC with respect to RIL are to be established by the Bombay High Court in the suit pending there,' he said, quoting from the affidavit.

'As and when NTPC makes a request for supply of the gas, the government would consider the request as per the provisions of the production sharing contract,' said the affidavit, which invited sharp criticism from Jethmalani.

'The government thinks that NTPC does not have any contractual rights at all. It has been virtually rendered as a beggar, with its rights depending upon the mercy petition to the government,' he said.

The senior counsel said NTPC may have a better and stronger rights on the gas, as it involved international competitive bidding, and wondered: 'If they (oil ministry) can reduce NTPC to such situation and divest it of its right, what could be RNRL's plight?'

He said NTPC's position was better, but the oil ministry has rendered the state-run firm helpless. 'It's an open invitation for bribery. Will I (RNRL) will have to go with bags?' Jethmalani asked.

'It was an open, daylight robbery,' he said, adding: 'I'm not talking like only a lawyer of this side or that other. I am also a citizen of this country and ask will the Supreme Court allow it?'

Counsel also called for corrective action from the government and said: 'NTPC should be represented separately and should not have the same law officers as those of government.'

By Rana Ajit (Staff Writer, © IANS)