Supreme Court seeks replies on Oil India drilling plea in Assam

The Supreme Court has sought Centre and Assam responses to Oil India's drilling plea. The case tests whether deep directional hydrocarbon extraction qualifies as prohibited mining.Newdelhi,Nov 3, 2026 14:24 ISTThe Supreme Court on November 3 sought responses from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Assam government on Oil India's plea challenging the rejection of its proposal to extract hydrocarbons beneath Assam's Dibru-Saikhowa National Park using Extended Reach Drilling, news agency Press Trust of India reported.Oil India has argued that the drilling infrastructure would remain outside the national park and access hydrocarbon deposits at a depth of about 3,500 to 4,000 metres. The public sector undertaking has challenged the refusal to approve the use of 0.069 hectares of forest land for the project in Tinsukia district.A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana took note of senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi's submission that the matter was extremely urgent as Oil India was unable to carry out exploration work in the area, PTI reported.Dwivedi, appearing for Oil India, said the area near the national park was estimated to hold three per cent of India's total hydrocarbon reserves. He said Extended Reach Drilling would be carried out at a depth of more than 4,000 metres and would not harm the park's flora and fauna. The bench said it could permit the exploration work based on research and development reports from the authorities, including the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The matter will next be heard after November 17.On September 2, the bench had allowed Oil India to withdraw an interim application and file a fresh petition challenging the Centre's rejection of its proposal for hydrocarbon extraction beneath the national park. “This is extremely urgent because the area is on the fringes of a national park. All permissions have been granted, but the government considers itself bound by a 2023 order of this court banning mining. This is not mining. The pipeline is being laid outside the park. It goes 4,000 metres underground and then proceeds horizontally,” Dwivedi had said.He had said the application was filed in the pending 1995 case titled TN Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union of India, which has played a key role in shaping forest conservation and environmental law. Dwivedi had also said the proposed project was crucial to the country's energy requirements.The Chief Justice said Oil India could file a new petition if there was a fresh cause of action. “We wanted to close that entire matter. If there is a fresh cause, file a fresh petition and we will entertain it. The registry cannot list the interlocutory application because there is an order to that effect,” he said, according to PTI.Dwivedi then requested permission to withdraw the interim application and file a fresh petition. “The interlocutory application, as requested, is allowed to be withdrawn with liberty to file a fresh petition,” the bench said.In its fresh plea, Oil India has challenged the Forest Advisory Committee's decision and the subsequent action of the environment ministry refusing approval for the use of 0.069 hectares of forest land for the project. It said the authorities had wrongly applied the Supreme Court's April 26, 2023 judgment prohibiting mining within national parks and wildlife sanctuaries and within one kilometre of their boundaries.The company said hydrocarbon exploration and production through Extended Reach Drilling could not be treated as conventional mining. It submitted that oil and gas operations were governed by a separate legal and regulatory framework and that the method involved drilling from sites outside the protected area to reach hydrocarbon reserves several kilometres below the surface.Oil India also cited the Supreme Court's 2017 orders permitting it, subject to conditions and safeguards, to extract hydrocarbons beneath the national park through Extended Reach Drilling. It said the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife had recommended the proposal and the court had subsequently allowed underground hydrocarbon extraction, subject to compliance with environmental and wildlife protection conditions.The plea referred to the January 2020 notification for the eco-sensitive zone around Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, under which the zone extends from zero to 8.7 kilometres around parts of the park's boundary. Oil India said it had received environmental clearance in May 2020 for drilling and testing hydrocarbons at seven locations beneath the park, though drilling in forest areas required separate prior approval.The company has sought the cancellation of the environment ministry's August 2, 2024 order and the minutes of the Forest Advisory Committee's July 4, 2024 meeting. “Direct the respondent No.1 to grant approval under section 2(1)(ii) of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 for non-forestry use of 0.069 hectare of forest land for Extended Reach Drilling under Dibru Saikhowa National Park from Baghjan PML in Tinsukia Wildlife Division, Tinsukia in the State of Assam,” the plea said.The Supreme Court will consider the matter after November 17, with Oil India maintaining that its proposed drilling would take place from outside the protected area and the Centre and Assam government required to respond to its challenge.- Ends