Veerappa Moily complains against Kapil Sibal to PM, says law ministry not taking action on gas FIR

NEW DELHI: Oil Minister Veerappa Moily has complained against his Cabinet colleague Kapil Sibal to the PM, saying the law ministry is dragging its feet over the Arvind Kejriwal-inspired FIR, which has prompted anti-corruption sleuths to start quizzing officials who recommended higher gas prices to the Cabinet.

Acting on the FIR against Moily, RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani and former oil minister Murli Deora, the Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch has demanded crucial notes and files from the petroleum ministry, government sources said. The FIR is based on a complaint by prominent people, including former cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian, who alleged that Ambani, Moily and Deora colluded to raise gas prices. Kejriwal has embarrassed Moily by regularly raising the issue in his rallies while Reliance had firmly denied the charges with a series of documents, text messages and videos uploaded on YouTube.

A government official said after the FIR was registered on February 11, the PM, the finance minister, Sibal and Moily agreed at a meeting last month that the oil ministry would send details to the law ministry, which would take action to quash the FIR. “The oil minister has sent all required details, but the law ministry is silent,” said a government official with direct knowledge of the matter.


Another government source said Moily had written to Singh expressing displeasure with Sibal’s apparent disinterest in the FIR, which has become an embarrassment for the oil minister, who had taken charge after the abrupt removal of Jaipal Reddy. During his tenure, Reddy had turned the heat on Mukesh Ambani and penalised RIL, saying the company deliberately cut gas output in the controversial KG-D6 block. RIL contested this and initiated arbitration against this. Moily is also concerned about the political fallout of Kejriwal’s repeated allegations at public rallies.

The law minister’s office declined comment on the matter while the petroleum ministry did not respond to emailed queries from ET. Delhi government officials said ACB’s visit to the petroleum ministry was a natural fallout of the FIR. “Once an FIR is filed, it must be investigated and it must be logically concluded. ACB can’t close the case, only the court can. The central government is free to take legal remedies available,” one official said on condition of anonymity.

Moily has frequently defended the government’s decision to adopt the Rangarajan Committee formula, which would have doubled the price of natural gas to about $8.4 per unit from April 1, if the Election Commission had not vetoed the move.

Last month, Moily sent a note to the prime minister, defending the government’s decision to raise gas prices after Kejriwal wrote to Singh demanding that gas prices should not be increased until the completion of the anti-corruption case he had ordered as Delhi chief minister. Kejriwal also wanted the government to terminate the KG-D6 contract for non-compliance.

Central government officials say an FIR by a state against a decision taken by the Union Cabinet challenges the country’s federal structure. They also say that a preliminary enquiry should have been conducted before registering an FIR.