NEW DELHI: On Thursday, the Delhi government had ordered a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit of power discoms. On Friday, the Supreme Court stayed the audit. At stake is `38,500 crore accumulated as regulatory assets (RA), which are scheduled to be recovered from city’s power consumers.
A vacation bench headed by Justice K V Viswanathan directed the parties to maintain the status quo on the audit of the discoms by a CAG-appointed independent CA.
The court clarified that the stay applies only to the CAG audit and does not bar Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) from exercising its powers. “All rights and contentions are left open,” it noted.
The court issued a notice on a plea filed by the DERC, which challenged an order of the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL). It stayed the order for CAG audit of discoms and fixed the matter for further hearing to July 15.
The court issued notice to the Delhi government, CAG, DERC, and the Union Ministry of Power.
The bench noted that the legality of the DERC assigning such an audit to the CAG needs closer judicial scrutiny. It also stayed an order of the APTEL, which had directed the DERC to conduct an audit through an independent chartered accountant.
Appearing for DERC, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that the audit contemplated by the SC’s August 6, 2025, judgment had to be completed before any recovery of RA could be made from electricity consumers. Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the Delhi government, argued that substantial public funds flow to discoms as a subsidy, justifying CAG scrutiny in the public interest.
The court said RA which are created to shield consumers from sudden hikes, should not remain unresolved for long.