Overview
- A Bombay High Court bench led by Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar with Justice Suman Shyam on Friday dismissed pleas seeking a CBI investigation and an FIR against Reliance Industries and Mukesh Ambani over alleged gas extraction from ONGC wells in the Krishna–Godavari basin.
- The court said the public-interest filing lacked bona fides and relied on news reports, noted the petitioner’s delay in approaching the court, and warned that forcing criminal cases can damage a company’s reputation and business ties.
- Petitioner Jitendra Maru cited DeGolyer & MacNaughton’s 2015 analysis that found reservoir connectivity across ONGC and RIL blocks and an A.P. Shah committee finding that pegged alleged unjust enrichment at about $1.55 billion plus interest.
- The underlying dispute remains in civil proceedings, after an arbitral award for Reliance in 2018 was set aside by the Delhi High Court in February 2025, with Reliance’s appeal now before the Supreme Court; the CBI had closed a 2025 complaint as a civil matter.
- The same bench also rejected Maru’s separate plea for a CBI probe into alleged bribery at Adani Green Energy, calling the petition an abuse of process that leaned on U.S. court filings.