The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to stay a Delhi
Government order asking the Capital’s three
power distribution
companies, BSES Rajdhani, BSES Yamuna and TPDDL, to get their accounts
audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General, saying the matter needed
a detailed hearing.
Directing the three companies to
cooperate with CAG in auditing of their accounts, Justice Manmohan
directed the auditor not to submit the audit report on these companies
to the State Government till March 19, the next date of hearing.
The
companies challenged the Government’s decision to get their accounts
audited from 2002 when the job of power distribution in the Capital was
transferred to them from the Delhi Vidyut Board by the then Sheila
Dikshit Government to check power thefts and transmission losses.
The
petitioners argued that they were beyond the jurisdiction of CAG. They
were ready to get their accounts examined in any manner under the law
applicable to them, they submitted. Counsel for TDDL argued that private
firms could be audited by CAG as they did not figure in the bodies and
authorities which could be audited by it. Its counsel further argued
that it was a joint venture company with the Delhi Government having a
minority stake of 49, so it was the majority share-holder which would
decide the course of auditing.
Countering the
argument, Delhi Government counsel submitted that CAG could audit the
accounts of these companies as the CAG Act provided for it.
Their
petitions further said that CAG-empanelled auditors had been auditing
their accounts for the past ten years. And even the Delhi Electricity
Regulatory Commission (DERC) had done their special audit several times
under provisions of the Electricity Act 2003.
They
said that they had a strong and transparent system of auditing and their
accounts were audited both by unimpeachable external and internal
auditors.
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