The battle between the billionaire Ambani brothers – Mukesh and Anil – has been a bitter one, and has looked perplexingly complex. But law and judges have a great ability to isolate the main issues and simplify them, even when they seem like a political landmine. That is why I am quite confident the Supreme Court verdict, expected this week, will be a lot easier than most imagine.

Let’s consider the main legal points that need adjudication.

One, is the MoU between the Ambani brothers to divide their late father, Dhirubhai Ambani’s business empire valid?

This has to be a resounding yes. After all, the brothers now run their own empires along agreed divided lines. This division has the approval of authorities such as the Ministry of Company Affairs and the Stock Exchanges Board of India, and has, in another context, been upheld by the Bombay High Court. Consequently, Mukesh’s agreement to sell natural gas to Anil’s company at USD2.34 per million British Thermal Units, or BTU, will likely be upheld.

Two, is the agreement between Mukesh and Anil on the gas sale binding on Reliance Industries Limited and its shareholders?

The most likely answer is no. Neither its board nor its shareholders have approved the agreement between the brothers. Shareholders surely should not have to bear the burden of a private decision taken by its managing director.

The crucial question then is: how do you deliver justice to younger brother Anil, who counted the gains from the gas deal in agreeing to the family MoU?

One possible way for the court to remedy the situation is to ask Mukesh to pay his brother (or his company Reliance Natural Resources Limited) the difference between the government-mandated gas price of USD4.2 per mmbtu and the lower price he has promised Anil. If this happens, it will be a hefty blow to Mukesh because he might also have to pay the government’s share of the revenue calculated at the higher price. He could lose an estimated $10 billion but it is a price he can afford to pay, and probably needs to pay. Mukesh would be hard pressed to separately dispute such an award because he can’t really contest the entire terms of the MoU he signed with his brother.

This would be a fair deal for all parties concerned – Anil Ambani, RNRL, RIL and the government.

RIL shareholders need not bear the burden of selling gas at a subsidized price. It would be fair to RNRL shareholders who have invested all along in the expectation of buying gas at the cheaper price. And, of course, it will be fair to Anil, who signed the MoU with his older brother in good faith without probably anticipating the technicalities and complications involved, and has delivered his part of the bargain. And finally, the government’s interests too will have been safeguarded as it will receive its share of revenues from gas valued at the higher price.

All this eventually might leave one important question unanswered: Can the government, as the owner of the natural gas and all other state resources, over-rule any agreement over the natural resources between any two parties? I think the justices may not even need to answer this question to deliver justice to Anil Ambani. It would be curious though to see if the court goes further in actually giving an opinion on this.