In what is being seen as a blow to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and a relief to power companies, the Delhi High Court ruled on Friday that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has no jurisdiction to audit the accounts of the power companies.
In response to pleas from three private discoms, which had questioned the AAP government’s decision to get accounts audited by the CAG, the ruling came from a division bench of the HC headed by Chief Justice G Rohini.
This follows a development from August this year, when the CAG had found the three private power distribution companies— BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL), BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL) and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd guilty of inflating power dues to the tune of Rs 8000 crore.
Reacting to the report, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kerjriwal had moved Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cancel agreements with the companies, accusing them of selling electricity at higher rates.
After coming to power in January this year, the AAP government had sought a CAG audit of discoms. This was even tried by the AAP government during its 49-day stint in the Delhi government in 2014.