Don’t take coercive steps against Telangana: HC

Hyderabad, Sept.28 (NSS): The Telangana High Court today asked the AP government to not take any coercive steps against the State in the issue of the payment of electricity arrears of ₹7,000 crore to AP government.

Referring to the orders issued by the Central government asking the Telangana government to clear the arrears, a division bench comprising Justice P. Naveen Rao and Justice Sambasiva Naidu said the orders of the Central government were against law as they were issued without giving any opportunity to the Telangana government to present its case.

The bench passed the orders in response to a petition filed by the State government on the issue . Senior advocate of Supreme Court Dushyanth Dave argued the case on behalf of the State government while senior advocate CV Mohan Reddy argued the case on behalf of the AP government. Additional solicitor general of India Suryakaran Reddy argued the case on behalf of the Central government. The State government told the HC that the Central government did not have powers to pass the orders in the issue and added that the Southern Regional Council should take a decision in the issue after holding discussions with the two Telugu-speaking States as per AP Reorganisation Act.

Stating that the Union Home Ministry has powers to deal with disputes related to the Reorganisation Act, it wondered as to how an officer of the rank of deputy secretary of Union Power Ministry issued the orders? The State government claimed that the orders were issued by the Central government as the ruling party in AP had extended its support to the BJP government at the Centre in the recent election of President of India.

Arguing the case before the division bench, the AP government said there was no relationship between the electricity bills generated after the reorganisation of the State and the AP Reorganisation Act. It said the power utilities of the Telangana State has responsibility to clear the bills to APGENCO for the power supplied by it. The State government told the HC that it generated power by taking loans and added that it would incur losses if the arrears were not cleared by the Telangana State. Stating that the Southern Regional Council does not have any legal sanctity, it said the inquiry held by the Council did not yield any result.

The counsel for the Central government told the HC that the Centre has power to issue the orders as the power was supplied to Telangana on the basis of the orders issued by it. Following this, the HC asked the Telangana, AP and the Central government to file their counters in the case and adjourned the matter. (NSS)

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