PIL seeks joint probe by DRI, CVC, DVAC into ‘coal import scam’
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The Madras High Court on Thursday directed the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) to file a counter affidavit inside per week to a public curiosity litigation petition, which sought a joint probe by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, the Central Vigilance Commission and the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption into an alleged rip-off that had been happening within the State over time in import of coal for thermal energy stations.
Justices R. Subbiah and Sathi Kumar Sukumara Kurup issued the route on the PIL petition filed by C. Selvaraj, 70, a retired Assistant Engineer of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB), who had additionally served as basic secretary of a TNEB engineers’ affiliation for a few years. The petitioner urged the court docket to quash a young notification issued by Tangedco on February 8 for provide of 20 lakh tonnes of imported steam coal.
According to the petitioner, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in 2017 discovered that an avoidable expenditure of ₹746.13 crore had been incurred by Tangedco because it had not invited and evaluated the bids for import of coal on the variable value technique. The CAG had acknowledged that the failure to independently confirm the correctness of gross calorific worth furnished by the provider resulted in undue profit to the extent of ₹813.68 crore, the petitioner stated, and opposed import of coal.
“The first respondent (Tangedco) is not justified in going for global tender for importing coal without declaring non-availability of coal within the country and also not ascertaining and promoting alternative methods of electricity generation,” the petitioner stated.
He stated the monetary burden incurred by Tangedco from import of coal was handed on to the frequent man within the type of tariff revision. Therefore, import of coal ought to be the final choice, the petitioner added.
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