Centre has jurisdiction to enact law on LNG: SC

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the Union Government has exclusive jurisdiction to enact law on the supply and regulation of natural gas and liquified natural gas (LNG) and quashed a Gujarat legislation purporting to regulate the gas supply through pipelines on the ground that it passed through the state territory.

Answering the presidential reference on the issue, a constitutional bench headed by Justice S.Rajendra Babu said ‘‘natural gas and liquified natural gas is a Union subject under Entry 63 List 1 and hence, Union Government alone has exclusive competence to enact legislations in this regard.’’

Referring to the 2001 Gujarat government order, the bench declared that states could not enact law on the supply and regulation of natural gas and LNG. The state govt, through its order three years ago, had intended to impose tax on the pipelines passing through the state. In view of the order and the fact that the pipelines passed through several states, the President had given a reference to the SC to determine whether the states could enact laws pertaining to natural gas and LNG.