Goa wins power rebate case Likely to fetch Rs 100 cr to treasury
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, MAY 4
In a significant development, the Goa government has won a power rebate case in the Supreme Court which is likely to fetch nearly Rs 100 crores to the State treasury.
A bunch of special leave petitions (SLPs) was pending foraround a decade challenging the Electricity Department’s decision to recover rebate benefits given to the power guzzlers in 1996.
It’s also a victory for opposition leader Manohar Parrikar who had won a case in the Goa bench of Bombay Court and the court’s ruling was challenged by power companies in the apex court. In some of the petitions, Parrikar was made a respondent. The power rebate issue is nearly two decades old as thenotification providing rebate of 25 per cent for a period of five years from the date on which supply of electricity is made, was issued on September 30, 1991
In 1995 it was rescinded but amended to bring in extra high tension consumers a year later. As a circular was issued on March 31,1998 by the office of chief electrical engineer suspending release of 25 per cent rebate, several petitionswere filed in the High Court. They challenged the impugned notification dated July 24,1998.
By judgment dated January 21, 1991 the High Court held that the circular did not have any legal efficacy but further held that
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validity of the rescinding notification dated July 24, 1998
couldn’t be faulted as it was held to be valid and legal.
Challenging the order that the companies were not entitled for
rebate beyond July 271998, the aggrieved persons went to the
Supreme Court where the SLPs were dismissed.
When Parrikar filed a writ petition in the High Court
challenging the notifications of 1996, the court quashed the
two notifications rejecting inter alia the plea of res judicata
on the grounds that the validity of the two notifications was
not in issue or considered in the judgement dated January 21
1999.
Against the April 2001 judgement, special leave petitions were
filed in the Supreme Court and in the following year, the
government enacted law known as Prohibition of Further
Payments and Recovery of Rebate Benefits Act 2002.
This law enacted by the Parrikar regime, provided for recovery
of rebate benefits given to companies pursuant to notifications
of 1996.
It was only when the Digambar Kamat government came to power
that the government seriously pursued the case in the Supreme
Court.
The Power Department engaged a noted counsel Venugopal as a
senior counsel to defend the various matters on power rebate in
the apex court. A Suhasini was the advocate on record.
Power Minister Aleixo Sequeira pursued the matter as crores of
rupees were at stake. Incidentally, in a assembly session last
years, the Cortalim legislator Mauvin Godinho had alleged that
the Electricity Department was wasting Rs 25 lakh on lawyers in
the Supreme Court. To this, Sequeira had replied that the
government was willing to spend, if required, even a crore to
defend the State government’s interest in the apex court as
crores of rupees were at stake.
In the 100-page plus judgement, the Supreme Court has held that
the Prohibition of Further Payment and Recovery of Rebate
Benefits Act, 2002 “doesn’t suffer from any invalidity and the
challenge made by the petitioners to the constitutionality
fails.” Accordingly , the writ petitions were dismissed without
any order as to cost.
To a question whether the Power Ministry would now move to
recover the rebate benefits from the companies, the power
minister said that he would study the order and take necessary
action . The Bharatiya Janata Party camp was also jubilant as
Parrikar was also a respondent in the matter. In fact,
Parrikar was the first person to point out the anomalies in the
controversial power rebate notifications issued by the Congress
governments in the past.
