The Supreme Court on Friday declined to halt proceedings before the Delhi High Court in the Union government’s attempt to recover nearly $2.31 billion from Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and its consortium partners in the long-running Panna-Mukta and Tapti offshore oilfields dispute. The decision means the Delhi High Court will continue hearing the Centre’s appeal on its merits, while Reliance retains the right to challenge the maintainability of the government’s appeal at a later stage, if necessary. The dispute stems from production-sharing contracts signed more than three decades ago and has remained one of the country’s most closely watched energy-sector legal battles.
