New Delhi, Aug 25 - State-run power utility NTPC and the oil ministry will file separate petitions in the Supreme Court on the ongoing legal battle over natural gas at $2.34 per unit from the Krishna-Godavari basin awarded to Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries.
Law and Justice Minister M. Veerappa Moily and Power Secretary H.S. Brahma gave this information in separate remarks here to reporters Tuesday.
The decision on the petroleum ministry moving the apex court as a party to the legal dispute was taken at a meeting here among the members of a high-powered ministerial panel on the matter set by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The panel was formed to coordinate the government's position over two disputes - one over supplies to Reliance Natural Resources being heard in the Supreme Court, and the other over sale to NTPC being adjudicated in the Bombay High Court.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee heads the high-level panel, with Moily, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde as its members.
Top officials of these ministries also attended Tuesday's meeting.
'This is the stand which we have sorted out,' Moily told reporters here after the meeting, adding: 'Now the ball will be in the court of the Supreme Court.' He also said this was the last meeting of the four-member ministerial panel.
When asked what the government's stand was, Moily said: 'That you can see in the Supreme Court.