The Centre has rejected media reports claiming that it told the Supreme Court that the 20 per cent ethanol blended petrol (E20) programme was an “ongoing experiment”, calling the claims “incorrectly reported” and “completely false.”
No such submission was made before the apex court during the hearing on a special leave petition filed by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) regarding ethanol allocation, a statement issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice on Tuesday night.
The government claimed that the media reports that suggested that the impact of the policy and how well-versed it was would become clearer next year were false and did not reflect the submissions that were actually made before the court.
“At no stage was any submission made that the Government's Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme or the E20 blending programme is an ‘experiment’,” the statement clarified.
A top law officer had submitted that the 20 per cent ethanol blending programme in petrol is still an ongoing experiment and the impact of the policy would become clearer by next year, news agencies including PTI had earlier reported.
The statement clarified that during the hearing, the government informed the Supreme Court about pending cases in various high courts concerning ethanol allocation to dedicated ethanol plants.
It also presented before the Supreme Court that transfer petitions would be filed so that similar matters could be heard together to avoid conflicting judgments and ensure faster resolution, “so that supplies of ethanol to OMCs to maintain 20 per cent blending with petrol throughout the year is not impacted, under the Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme which is a national programme.”
After considering the submissions made before it, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice Sheel Nagu directed that transfer petitions in related matters be formally filed. The court also ordered that the existing arrangement regarding ethanol allocation remain unchanged for the ongoing Ethanol Supply Year (2025–26) in the present case.
In addition, the bench issued notice on the BPCL plea challenging a June 23 ruling of the Karnataka High Court and sought responses in the matter.
The Centre in the statement stressed that at no stage was the E20 programme described as an “experiment” before the court. Such reporting is incorrect and does not reflect its submissions, the government underlined.