New Delhi, July 1 -- The office of Attorney General (AG) R Venkataramani clarified on Monday that the central government never told the Supreme Court that the government's E20 fuel programme is an "experiment".

The statement came after several media reports on June 30 cited the Attorney General as telling the Supreme Court during a hearing in an ethanol allocation dispute that the government's programme to achieve 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol was "still an ongoing experiment" and that its impact would become clearer next year.

As the statement went viral, it drew backlash on social media, with some questioning, "From where are come from, experiments are done on smaller samples and in a controlled environment. How can an entire...