AAP seeks 'criminal' action against Delhi's power discoms

Even as the ruling Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday sought "criminal action" against the three power distributors in the capital for allegedly inflating the money due from consumers, the companies said the matter was not just still under audit but also sub-judice.

The party, led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, has also demanded rationaisation of the city-capital's power tariff, lower the rates and put a moratorium on future such hikes. It also said people should get their money back, if they were over-charged.

"We demand criminal action against the power discoms. They should be sent behind the bars," AAP leader Deepak Bajpai said, alluding to a preliminary report of India's official auditor, which was purportedly leaked to a section of the media.

The AAP also wanted the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India to be made public. The Delhi government refrained from making any official statement. But sources said legal opinion was being sought to move the high court in this regard.

"We are shocked at the highly irresponsible, factually incorrect, mischievous and distorted reporting in a section of the media on a purported CAG audit report on the Delhi Discoms," the spokesperson for two of the companies -- BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna -- said in a statement.

"These media reports tantamount to blatant contempt of the order of the Hon'ble Delhi High Court, which has put a blanket prohibition on publication of any CAG audit report as the matter is sub judice," the statement said.

It also said the audit process was still not completed and it would be premature to allege that the CAG has arrived at any adverse conclusions, adding that the two companies will respond to observations, as and when called upon to do so by the official auditor.

The third company, Tata Power Delhi Distribution, also reacted in a similar vein.

"The allegations and claims made in some sections of the media in relation to the CAG draft audit report of discoms are speculative in nature. The veracity of facts cannot be ascertained and the matter is sub-judice," the company said in a media statement.

"As per our knowledge and information, no report has been finalised by the CAG and the matter is currently sub-judice. Therefore, any such action of making the report or any of its contents public may prima facie attract contempt of Court proceedings," it said.

"It will not be therefore appropriate, for us to comment on the revelations alleged."

AAP legislator Saurabh Bhardwaj, who also addressed the press conference said: "Earlier people would laugh at us when we talked about irregularities in the account books of power distribution companies. Now the preliminary findings of the CAG report has proved we were right."

His party accused the companies of fudging their account books. The AAP had ordered a CAG audit on the companies when it first came to power in Delhi in 2013.