Petition No. 178/SM/2012. Case: In Re: Shri. Tarun Bajaj, Managing Director, Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited, Panchkula and Shri. S.B. Moudgil, Chief Engineer (System Operation and Commercial), State Load Despatch Center, Haryana Vs. Central Electricity Regulatory Commission
| Case Number | Petition No. 178/SM/2012 |
| Counsel | For Appellant: Shri. Amit Kapur, Advocate, Miss Apoorva Mishra, Advocate, Miss Deepika Kalia, Advocate, Shri. Joyti Prasad, NRLDC and Shri. Rajiv Porwal, NRLDC |
| Judges | Dr. Pramod Deo, Chairperson, Shri. S. Jayaraman, Member, Shri. V.S. Verma, Member and Shri. M. Deena Dayalan, Member |
| Issue | Electricity Act, 2003 - Sections 142, 149, 29 |
| Judgement Date | January 11, 2013 |
| Court | Central Electricity Regulatory Commission |
Order:
1. The Commission by its order dated 17.8.2012 in Petition No. 125/MP/2012 had directed as under:
20.....We had indicated in our order dated 10.7.2012 that it would be the personal liability of the officers in charge of the STUs and SLDCs to ensure compliance with our directions to curtail overdrawal from the grid and comply with the messages of NRLDC. During the hearing, the officers of UPPTCL, PTCUL, HVPNL, RRVPNL and PSTCL have not denied overdrawal from the grid or non-compliance with the directions of the RLDCs. The officer in charge of PDD, Jammu and Kashmir did not appear despite notice. We deprecate the attitude of the concerned officer towards the order of the Commission in the serious matter like grid discipline. We are of the view that these officers have not only failed to comply with our directions but have also failed to discharge their responsibility under the Act and the Grid Code. We direct the staff of the Commission to process the case for initiation of action under Section 142 of the Act against the officers in charge of STUs/SLDCs of the States of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir for imposition of penalty for non-compliance with our directions and the provisions of the Act and the Grid Code.
The Commission vide its order dated 7.9.2012 further directed as under:
5. We are of the view that SLDC is under a statutory obligation to comply with the Grid Code specified by the Commission and ensure compliance with the directions of NRLDC. Since STU is operating the SLDC in the State, it also becomes the responsibility of the Officer in-charge of the STU to ensure that the SLDC discharges its functions and comply with the orders of NRLDC and the Commission. Therefore, the respondents, who were in charge of STU and SLDC at the time of issue of direction of the Commission have failed to discharge their responsibility under the Electricity Act, 2003 and Grid Code.
6. In view of the above, the respondents are directed to show cause by 17.9.2012, as to why penalty should not be imposed on them under Section 142 of the Electricity Act, 2003 and the penalty amount should not be recovered from their salary for contravention of the provisions of the Act, Grid Code, directions of NRLDC and orders of the Commission.
2. In response to the show cause notice dated 7.9.2012, the respondents have filed a joint reply vide affidavit dated 20.9.2012.
3. The respondents in their reply have submitted the following about the then prevalent power supply scenario in the State:
(a) During the months of May to September 2012, there was heavy demand of power for agricultural purposes in the State of Haryana. The peak load at any instance during the same period in 2011 was 6400 MW. Considering the above demand, the power utilities of Haryana had made an arrangement for 7200 MW from different sources. However due to outage of two units of Jamuna Nagar generating stations of HPGCL having a total capacity of 600 MW and one unit of Rajiv Gandhi Thermal Power plant and non-operation of the Jhajjar Power Limited due to non-availability of coal, there was shortage of power in the State which was accentuated due to deficit of rainfall during the months of May to August 2012 to the extent of 73%.
(b) In order to meet the shortage of powers, Haryana Power Purchase Centre made the arrangement for augmenting power supply from various sources such as through power exchange, banking with other states and short term purchase during the months of May, June and July 2012. Since power supply still fell short of the requirement, load shedding was carried out from April to August 2012. In addition, HVPNL also opened the feeders during the months of May, June, July and August 2012 in 852, 326, 408 and 1003 lines respectively.
(c) On receipt of the overdrawal messages from NRLDC and on its own, HVPNL has issued the messages to the two distribution companies of Haryana...
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