Pertamina tanker battle may return to square one
Leony Aurora , The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The legal battle over a ruling by the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) on the sale of two tankers by Pertamina looks set to return to square one after the Supreme Court decided that all the appeals against the ruling would have to be heard by the same judicial panel.
The decision, signed by Chief Justice Bagir Manan, was read out on Wednesday by the separate judicial panels of the Central Jakarta District Court that are hearing the appeals against the KPPU ruling lodged by state oil and gas firm Pertamina, financial advisor to the deal Goldman Sachs and tender winner Frontline Shipping Ltd.
Frontline's local agent, PT Equinox, has also submitted a similar appeal against the KPPU ruling to the South Jakarta District Court.
Goldman's legal representative, Todung Mulya Lubis, told The Jakarta Post that his client would file an appeal against the Supreme Court's decision, saying that it came too late.
"We were supposed to get a ruling tomorrow," said Todung. "Now, we have to start all over again.
"We shouldn't let the Chief Justice's neglect (in deciding on the issue) disrupt an ongoing process," he added.
The Central Jakarta District Court will sit on Wednesday to hear the stance of the parties as regards the Supreme Court decision.
Two weeks ago, before the District Court case started, the KPPU submitted a petition to the Supreme Court requesting that the appeals against its ruling in the tanker case be heard jointly by the same judicial panel, citing Article 4 of Supreme Court Regulation No. 1/2003 on appeals against KPPU rulings.
This article stipulates if appeals are brought by more than one business entity before different judicial panels against one KPPU ruling, then the KPPU can ask the Supreme Court to designate a single District Court panel to examine all of the appeals.
Idawara Suprida, one of the KPPU's lawyers, said that the KPPU welcomed the decision.
"We stand by what the law says," she said. "Besides, the KPPU issued only one ruling. Why do we need four different court rulings in response to it?"
According to Idawara, the Supreme Court order was signed on April 13, but the judges only received it on Wednesday morning. The reason for the delay was unclear.
Todung was of opinion that the article did not stipulate that all of the appeals had to be heard by one judicial panel. "It's just a matter of location," he said.
The KPPU ruled on March 4 that the sale of two Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) belonging to Pertamina last year to Bermuda-based Frontline for US$184 million breached the requirements of fair competition.
It ordered Pertamina's boards of directors and commissioners to explain the case to its shareholders, while Goldman Sachs, Frontline and Equinox were fined Rp 19.7 billion ($2.06 million), Rp 25 billion and Rp 16.6 billion, respectively.
Goldman and Frontline were also ordered to pay damages of Rp 60 billion and Rp 120 billion respectively to compensate the state for loss of potential revenue.
All parties were given two months to comply with the ruling.