Jessop divestment hearing deferred by three weeks
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has given a reprieve to the central government on the stalled divestment process in oil public sector units. The court agreed, in-principle, to reconsider its September ruling on the privatisation of HPCL and BPCL. This is seen as an indication that the apex court is ready to look at the whole issue afresh. In early September, the SC had ruled that the government should take the parliament's approval for privatising HPCL and BPCL since these two oil firms were nationalised through the relevant Acts of Parliament in the 1970s.

The decision to take a re-look at its earlier verdict was made by a bench comprising Chief Justice V N Khare and Justice S B Sinha during the course of a hearing on a petition filed by Jessop & Company Staff Association challenging a Calcutta High Court judgement upholding the government's plan to privatise the rail-coach maker. "We are primarily concerned whether disinvestment requires parliamentary approval and whether it is legally permitted," the judges observed.
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