Delhi government asked not to act on audit reports on discoms

The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the Arvind Kejriwal government not to take any action against power distribution companies in the national capital on the basis of interim audit reports. The court also fixed Sep 11 as the next date for hearing.

A bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw also sought responses from the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) and the Delhi government on a plea seeking restraint by the Delhi government in taking action on the said reports.

The plea was filed by two distribution companies -- BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna.

The third company distributing power in the capital, Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (TPDDL), said while it has received a copy of the audit report, it was pained at media reports making allegations purportedly based on leaked documents.

"The copy of the draft report of the Comptroller and Auditor General which TPDDL has received recently is marked 'Secret and Confidential' and specifically instructs TPDDL not to reveal any contents," the company said in a statement.

"TPDDL feels deeply constrained in being required to follow these instructions thereby not being able to respond to prejudicial interpretations and allegations drawn from an obviously leaked draft report," it said.

"The issued identified in the draft report are being clarified and appropriately responded by TPDDL to the CAG while maintaining strict confidentiality. As such, TPDDL's response cannot be shared in public domain."

The two BSES companies had reacted sharply to the developments on Thursday.

"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 had 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 not completed and it would be premature to allege that the some adverse conclusions had been arrived at. It said the two companies will respond to the observations, as and when called upon to do so by the official auditor.