HC stays order reallocating power to Haryana from Dadri-II Plant of Delhi
Mar 30, 2022
New Delhi [India], March 31 : The Delhi High Court on Wednesday stayed the order passed by the Central government reallocating power from Delhi's Dadri-II Plant to the state of Haryana.
Power Discom BSES Rajdhani challenged the order passed by the Ministry of Power on March 29, 2022. The order was to be effective from April 1.
Justice Yashwant Varma issued notice on the petition moved by the BSES to the respondent parties including Northern Regional Power Committee and others. Notice was accepted by the counsel for the parties.
The Court has listed the matter for hearing on April 1, 2022, until which the order has been stayed.
Counsel for the Central Government Kirtiman Singh appeared on advance notice and prayed for the matter to be put up on April 1, 2022, in order to enable him to obtain instruction.
The petitioner has challenged the order of March 29, 2022, passed by the Ministry of Power which alludes to a purported surrender of power generated by the Dadri-II Thermal Power Station by GNCTD has transferred the same to the state of Haryana.
Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi appearing for the petitioner submitted the aforesaid order is wholly without jurisdiction since no power inheres in the respondents to reallocate power that forms part of the allocation made in favour of the petitioner and duly approved by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC).
He also submitted that the surrender of power which was contemplated in terms of the communication of October 7, 2021, was with respect to the Dadri-I Thermal Power Plant alone.
Senior Counsel also withdrew the attention of the court to the order of the DERC of March 30, 2022, which categorically records that the commission had not communicated any request to the Ministry of Power to either re-allocate or surrender the share of NCT from Dadri-II to other states.
Sandeep Sethi submitted that if the impugned order were to be implemented, 23 per cent of the populace of Delhi would be deprived of power in the next 24 hours. The Court also took note of the submission that the impugned order would if permitted to operate, come into effect from midnight of Friday, April 1, 2022.
The resultant deficiency would have to be arranged before 10 am on Thursday, March 31, 2022.
