Centre opposes Tamil Nadu's claim on surplus power

The central government Thursday told the Supreme Court that Tamil Nadu's claim over the excess power Delhi was surrendering during winter could not be decided without hearing other states and agencies vying for it.

The government told the apex court bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice J. Chelameswar that "other requesting states/agencies are necessary parties and ought to be heard/impleaded as they may be prejudiced in the event of any order being passed" on Tamil Nadu's plea for entire power being surrendered by Delhi.

Tamil Nadu moved the apex court seeking direction to the central government to allocate it 230 MW of round-the-clock power and 1,491 MW power from midnight to 6 a.m. being surrendered by Delhi for the duration of winter.

The central government's reply said that during September-October, the National Thermal Power Corporation wrote not only to Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd. but also to a number of power utilities/departments in different states/union territories inquiring about their requirements.

In response, power utilities of Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka filed applications.

The reply said that Tamil Nadu's petition seeking the entire surrendered power could not be granted without affording others a hearing.

Seeking the dismissal of Tamil Nadu's petition, the central government said its plea was not maintainable as no legal right of the petitioner state had been infringed or not complied with.

Tamil Nadu could not be permitted to subvert the procedure provided under the Electricity Act, 2003, the central government said. - IANS