'PILs Filed At Behest Of Rivals Harm Corporate Reputation': Bombay High Court Rejects FIR Plea Against Reliance Industries

The Bombay High Court on Friday expressed its concern that writ petitions masked as public interest litigations are often filed at the instance of a failed competitor or a rival business house while dismissing a petition seeking registration of an FIR against Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) over allegations of illegal extraction of gas from ONGC wells.

A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Suman Shyam noted that such petitions can cause serious harm to the reputation and business prospects of corporate entities and may create apprehension among existing and prospective business partners.

The court observed:

“This is the experience across the High Courts that the writ petitions of this kind or a petition masked as a public interest litigation is filed at the behest of the failed competitor or a rival business house or a disgruntled person. A petition like the present one causes serious harm to the reputation and business prospects of any Corporate entity. An attempt like this carries an inbuilt threat which may percolate into the minds of the business partners of any Corporate entity and thus threatening a present or future business partnership.”

The petition filed by Jitendra Punamchand Maru, who claimed to be a social worker, alleged that under the New Exploration Licensing Policy, Reliance Industries was permitted to explore the Krishna-Godavari basin but had illegally tapped gas from ONGC wells. He relied on a November 19, 2015 report of De Golyer and MacNaughton and findings of a committee headed by Justice A.P. Shah, which, according to him, quantified the gas extracted from ONGC wells. He claimed that despite lodging a complaint, the CBI failed to register an FIR for cheating and criminal breach of trust.

The CBI opposed the petition, stating that the dispute was civil in nature and that the complaint had already been closed on September 30, 2025. It also pointed out that no complaint had been made by ONGC or the Union of India, which may alone hold any outstanding claim against RIL.

Rejecting the petition, the court held that merely making allegations does not create a legal right to seek criminal action. It observed that “Merely because the petitioner makes certain allegations in this writ petition, he cannot claim to have a right in law to seek registration of the First Information Report against the fourth respondent, its officers, Directors etc.”

The court also found the explanation for approaching the high court after more than a decade to be false and unjustified. It noted that an arbitral award dated July 24, 2018, had already been passed in favour of RIL, and a challenge to it was dismissed by the Delhi High Court on May 9, 2023, though later set aside in appeal, with the matter presently pending before the Supreme Court.

Emphasising that jurisdiction under Article 226 is exercised in public interest and not for private interest, the court held that the petitioner failed to establish bona fides and had approached the writ court without clean hands.

Holding the petition to be an abuse of process, it was dismissed.