The Madras High Court on Wednesday dismissed a writ petition seeking Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into alleged loss of several crores of rupees to the public exchequer due to purchase of electricity, produced by private solar power generators at a higher cost during the tenure of former Electricity Minister ‘Natham’ R. Viswanathan.
Justice G. Jayachandran rejected the case filed by S.P. Sreenivas, who had described himself as a consumer of electricity, after observing that the award of contract to firms that had quoted higher rates could be challenged only by the competitors who had participated in the tender process and not by a third-party unconnected to the issue.
“From the counter [affidavit] filed by the respondents as well as from the perusal of the records, this court finds that the alleged illegality of entering into contract with certain generators is ill-conceived. The fixation of purchase price at ₹7.01 per unit cannot be presumed to be fixed with an ulterior motive.
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“Even if it is so, it could be challenged before the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL). If some ineligible persons were entertained and awarded contract of power purchase as alleged by the petitioner, it is for the other competitors who have participated in the tender and lost the tender to challenge the same,” the judge said.