New Delhi: Government on September 16 said the Supreme Court decision halting disinvestment of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) unless there was a Parliamentary approval, would have far-reaching consequences on the sell-off process.

"It will have far-reaching consequences not only for disinvestment in these two PSUs (public sector undertakings), but in other matters also," Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie said from Germany.

There may be other PSUs not only at the Central level, but also at the state level, which were created through Legislative Acts and whose disinvestment would become more difficult, Shourie said.

Government had gone ahead with the sell-off process in the two oil PSUs after getting attorney general's opinion that the disinvestment of government equity in the two corporations did not require a Parliamentary nod.

PTI



SC restrains disinvestment of HPCL and BPCL