HC declines to give specific direction

The Madras High Court today declined to give any specific direction on matters relating to power generation and distribution as they were policy decisions by governments.
"Court do not find it appropriate to issue any specific directions in these matters," a division bench of Justice M Jaichandran and Justice R Mahadevan said while disposing of a PIL.
The petition sought a direction to restrain the Centre from supplying electricity generated by Neyveli Lignite Corporation to other states until the energy crisis in Tamil Nadu comes to an end.
The bench, however, observed that the Central and state governments could look into the issue in depth and take effective steps to see the problem was resolved. The judges observed that the power shortage in the state had changed now, with new power projects coming into operation.

They said citizens also have a responsibility to save power to the extent possible and referred to new power projects under contemplation for meeting energy needs of the state.
The petitioner, B Stalin, an advocate, also sought a direction to the Centre and Power Grid Corporation of India to ease the electrical transmission corridor congestion which, according to him, resulted in non-supply of electricity to Tamil Nadu from Gujarat, UP and other northern states.
Filing an affidavit through his counsel W Peter Ramesh Kumar, the petitioner claimed that Tamil Nadu had made arrangements to purchase 500 MW from Gujarat and 727 MW from Dadri Power Station in Uttar Pradesh. But, it was said in the affidavit, power could not be tapped due to unavailability of electrical transmission corridors.

Blaming the Centre for such a situation, the petitioner said power generated at NLC itself would be enough to cater to the need of Tamil Nadu. Hence, he said the power should not be shared with other states.