‘Cannot Allow To Blow Hot & Cold At The Same Time’: SC On Haryana Discoms Reversing Position

The Supreme Court recently held that state agencies cannot contest regulatory agencies’ assessments and methodologies after initially accepting them.

A bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Vikram Nath noted that Haryana power discoms were guilty of the same.

“We find that Haryana Utilities are indulging into approbation and reprobation. They cannot be permitted to blow hot and cold at the same time. After accepting before the CERC (Central Electricity Regulatory Commission) that they would adopt the methodology as given in the case of GMR Kamalanga Energy Limited (supra), it would not be appropriate, in our view, on the part of the appellants, which are, after all, instrumentalities of the State, to change its stand after final orders are passed by the CERC,” the bench remarked.

The bench remarked the same while dismissing appeals against a Delhi Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) decision that upheld power purchase agreements between Haryana discoms and Adani Power. In this regard, the Tribunal upheld the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (CERC) rulings.

The APTEL had noted that the appellant had not contested the methodology for calculating relief for coal shortages under the new law before the CERC.

The Apex court stated that there was no evidence that the lower courts delivered their decisions based on extraneous considerations or without considering material on record.

The grounds for interfering with expert body findings in such cases were also made clear.

“Concurrent findings of fact recorded by the two expert bodies could have been interfered with only if they failed to take into consideration the mandatory statutory provisions or if the decisions had been taken by them on extraneous considerations or that they were ex facie arbitrary and illegal,” the bench stated.

Accordingly, the matter was disposed of.