The Ministry of Power had earlier issued the draft Electricity Amendment Bill 2020 on 17April 2020 for amending the Electricity Act 2003.  While  as many as 12 States had vehemently objected, the Ministry of Power kept the draft amendments pending and the status/position of the amendments is not known. While this exercise to amend Electricity Act 2003  was  stalled midway,  the Ministry of Power moved another proposal on 05 Feb , by circulating only to States with two weeks to submit comments.  The document of 05 Feb  (Annex 1 )  does not make any reference to the earlier draft of 17 Apr 2020, and this new draft is incomplete, with no statement of Objects and reasons.  This proposal is reported to have been sent to the Law Ministry  and others ( Mint 15 March 2021).

There are new developments which have a direct bearing on  the Amendment Bill  of 2021 which require urgent attention of the Law Ministry and PMO , as under.

          Dr Pramod Deo ( Ex Chairman CERC ) in an article of 10 March 2021 (Financial Express) Annex 1,   has made two statements of  principle

First :  “ The overarching principle is that the Courts must give effect to the purport and object of the Act.”

Therefore any proposal or document to amend the Electricity Act 2003 which does not have a statement of objects and reasons  ( statement of purport and object ) is incomplete and deserves to be rejected  ..

Second    “ The Supreme Court being the apex Court of our country has given judicial recognition to the twin pillars of the Electricity Act , 2003, viz  competition and public interest. “

Since “public interest”  has been recognized as one of the two pillars,  the proposals  to amend the Electricity Act 2003 ( ie amendment Bill 2021)  must necessarily be subject to public scrutiny of  electricity consumers.   Public interest cannot be ensured or safeguarded  if the public i.e. electricity consumers  are prevented from  giving their opinion/views  to the draft amendments.  Yet this is what has precisely happened as a result of  keeping the amendments away from the public domain.

                     In the recent case of Farming Laws the farmers have launched an unprecedented  protest  just because  the  farmers were not given a chance  to object before the laws were passed.  In case the electricity amendments are moved without due consultation and concurrence or regard for public interest, it would be a repeat of earlier mistakes, the outcome of which is still visible around the national capital. It is  normal to learn from past mistakes and certainly not justified to repeat past mistakes. The procedure adopted by the Power Ministry in moving amendments by ignoring and bypassing the public/consumers is against democratic functioning  and against public interest.

               AIPEF  stresses that the Law  Ministry  may take cognizance  of the legal issues and principles stated by Dr Pramod Deo and to send the bill back to the Power Ministry  , being legally unsustainable. 

With regards.

Shailendra Dubey

Chairman