Court Seeks Report on Complaint Against Minister

The Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the Director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), Chennai, to file a report about action taken on a complaint made against Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister 'Natham' R. Viswanathan and officials of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) who allegedly colluded to cause loss to the tune of Rs. 25,000 crore to the Corporation.Justice P. Devadass passed the direction on a criminal original petition moved by S.P. Sreenivas, a resident of Kotturpuram, Chennai. According to the petitioner, Mr. Viswanathan, by misusing his position as Minister, had colluded with officials of the Tangedco and fixed higher rates for procurement of solar energy from private power generators and caused a loss of Rs. 25,000 crore to the Corporation.Solar powerIn 2014, the State government framed a policy to purchase solar power from private generators and floated a tender in which 52 private firms were short listed and the purchase rate was fixed at Rs 6.48 per unit.But, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) in violation of Electricity Act, 2003 refused to approve the tender. In the meantime, it framed a preferential tariff scheme fixing the rate of purchase at Rs 7.01 per unit through an order dated September 12, 2014."The said rate was fixed initially for a period of one year commencing from September 12, 2014. However, on April 1, 2015 the TNERC, comprising its Chairman Akshaya Kumar and member G. Rajagopal, extended the validity up to March 31, 2016, suo motu ," the petitioner said.In fact, another member of TNERC, Nagalsamy, passed a dissenting order dated April 1, 2015 clearly stating that the decision would cause wrongful gain to some solar power generators and loss to Tangedco, he added.The petitioner further alleged that based on the higher price, Mr. Viswanathan negotiated with many private solar power generators, including the Adani Group, to set up plants in the State, provided they paid him a commission of Rs 35 lakh for every mega watt of plant to be established.'Unlawful gain'"This was done intentionally to cause unlawful gain to the power generators and loss to Tangedco, a burden passed on to the State exchequer and the tax payer," Mr. Sreenivas said.The petitioner claimed that he made a complaint on the issue to the Director of DVAC on March 1, but no action has been taken by the official till now.Mr. Sreenivas wanted the High Court to direct the DVAC to act on his complaint and file a report before a competent court.Recording the submissions, Justice Devadass posted the petition to second week of June for filing status report.