In a reprieve to residents of Delhi, the Supreme Court on Friday directed the NTPC not to cut power supply till March 26 to Reliance Group-owned power distribution companies for not clearing outstanding dues of over Rs.300 crore.
The apex court also directed the BSES to pay Rs. 50 crore within two weeks and posted the case for final hearing on March 26. Till then, State-owned NTPC will continue to supply power.
Observing that it is the consumers who suffer due to fight between two firms, a bench headed by Justice S.S. Nijjar directed the NTPC not to discontinue the power supply till the matter is heard.
The distribution companies had on Thursday approached the Supreme Court against the NTPC’s notice threatening to cut power supply for not clearing outstanding dues.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the distribution companies, submitted that the Delhi Government has not paid Rs.15,000 crore which it owed to the firms.
He said that the recent move of the Delhi Government to audit the firms is politically motivated and he won’t mind if the distribution companies are nationalised.
The bench then observed that the amount of Rs.300 crore which is to be paid to NTPC is a small amount for Reliance.
The NTPC had last week issued notices to the BSES Rajdhani and the BSES Yamuna on the issue of payment security mechanism and non-payment of outstanding dues to the NTPC.
