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Uttarakhand HC questions the benefits extended by the Power Corporation.
A bench comprising of CJ Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma directed the Government of Uttarakhand and the respondent Corporation to file an affidavit regarding the allegations moved against them by the petitioner.
A PIL was filed by the petitioner against the limitless perk that the respondent corporation had extended to its employees in the form of unlimited electricity usage extending from the rank of the MD to the Group D staff. Apart from the employees of its own, the employees of the Generating Company and the Transmission Corporations were also extended this perk. The employees were charged a very nominal amount for this. The counsel for the petitioner expressed that this loot of the resources had been going on right from the day the government was sworn in. This facility was not only provided to an employee but also to the retired employee and then carried unto the family of the deceased employee. The petitioner also complained that meter boxes in the majority of the employee’s houses were damaged and not working and those that were working were seldom checked. The respondents claimed that the entirety of the claim was not right. This benefit, according to the respondent Corporation was given only to the retired and present employees and not to their families.
The Court in this matter held that electricity could only be provided at concessional rates up till a particular limit. The Court was deeply grieved to see that the Power Corporation was squandering public wealth at this rate since the financial burden was being paid by the general public. The Court directed the Corporation to do a thorough and comprehensive audit to see the feasibility of the benefit extended and also decreed that the Corporation will give a rational explanation behind the giving away of such benefits virtually free of cost.
RTI Club Uttarakhand v. Uttarakhand Power Corporation Ltd., Writ Petition (PIL) No. 93 of 2019
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