New Delhi: UK-based Vedanta group company, Cairn India Ltd’s plea for permission to export excess crude from its oil field in Rajasthan was dismissed by the Delhi High Court today.
Justice Manmohan said that under the production sharing contract (PSC) between Cairn and the central government, the company would get a right to seek permission to export its share of the crude oil only after India attains self sufficiency.
The court said in the absence of a notice from the Centre saying India has attained self sufficiency, Cairn “can only claim compensation” from the government under the dispute- resolution mechanism provided under the PSC.
“Writ petition and applications being bereft of merits are dismissed with liberty to invoke the dispute resolution mechanism in the production sharing contract,” the court said.
The court, on August 10, had reserved the verdict in the matter in which the firm had argued that the export policy gave it the right to export.
During arguments, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, had opposed Cairn India’s plea saying it cannot be permitted to export crude as “no unrefined petroleum product is allowed to be exported”.
However, the counsel appearing for the firm had argued that no policy has been placed by the ministry before the court which says that crude cannot be exported.
The government had said that export of country’s domestic crude oil cannot be allowed as it would be detrimental to national interest considering the fact that nearly 85 per cent of required crude was imported.
