Indian Supreme Court refuses to stay Kerala high court order re: bulk diesel pricing

The Indian Supreme Court refused to stay, for now, a Kerala high court order that asked state-owned oil marketing companies to continue supplying bulk diesel at subsidized rates in the state.
The apex court, however, stayed the proceedings at the Kerala and Uttarakhand high courts in cases where the government’s decision to introduce dual pricing of diesel fuel was challenged based on a batch of petitions filed by Indian Oil Corp. (IOC). The case was to be heard in mid-July.
Earlier in May, the apex court had stayed proceedings in five cases in
various high courts based on petitions against the government’s decision to
introduce dual pricing of diesel fuel.
This comes after the government allowed state-owned oil marketing companies to sell diesel fuel to consumers, taking bulk supplies directly from the companies’ installations at non-subsidized, market-determined prices.
The government also decided that fuel retailers can revise diesel retail sale prices by INR0.40-0.50 (USD0.006-0.007) per liter per month, excluding value-added tax.
In its court plea, IOC said that, “The primary objective behind the pricing reforms undertaken by the Government of India is the growing imperative for fiscal consolidation and the need for reducing subsidy burden on petroleum products, so as to allocate more funds to social sector schemes for the common man and for ensuring the country’s energy security in the long-term…. Failure to do so would… adversely impact the fiscal deficit, resulting in a downward spiraling effect on the economy with consequential significant adverse impact on the common man.”
(July 12, 2013)