Plea against appointment of Rana Gurjit as Pb power minister

A PIL has been filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court here against the allocation of power portfolio to Rana Gurjit Singh by the Amarinder Singh government, alleging that there was conflict of interest.
The court today adjourned the hearing in the matter to July 23 .
The PIL was filed by lawyer H C Arora alleging that Gurjit had a majority stake in a power supplying company which had an agreement with Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and his appointment as power minister has led to conflict of interest.
It sought issuance of appropriate directions to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to shift Rana Gurjit Singh from power ministry.

The petitioner alleged that Gurjit and his wife are majority share holders in M/s Rana Sugars Limited, and the company has entered an agreement on December four, 2012 with PSPCL to supply up to 20 MW power generated by it to PSPCL.
There are certain provisions in this agreement which give discretion to PSPCL to make advance payments to this company, the petitioner contended.

The agreement is to continue up to December four, 2027, he contended.
Gurjit has been allocated Power Ministry, and in his capacity as a Power Minister, he has full control over PSPCL, the petitioner argued.
He further alleged that a few days ago, the Minister made a public statement that he is going to review power agreements with private power generating companies.

According to the petitioner, a situation of conflict of interest has arisen where the portfolio of power should be taken back from Rana Gurjit Singh, or he should be asked to sever his connections with M/s Rana Sugars Limited by disposing of all shares held by him and his spouce.
When the petitioner started making his submissions, Advocate General Atul Nanda, in his brief intervention, requested the high court bench comprising Justices S S Saron and Darshan Singh that he may be supplied with a copy of the PIL, and that the matter be adjourned to some other date so that he may respond to it.

At the same time, the Advocate General stated that there is no conflict of interest as PSPCL is under the Electricity Regulatory Authority.
This was strongly rebutted by the petitioner, who stated that once the Power Minister says that he is going to order review of power agreements signed by PSPCL with private power suppliers, it means that his own company will also be affected by such review.
Thus, a situation of conflict of interest is clearly arising, he argued.