CUTTACK: The proposed sale of Central Electricity Service Utility (CESU) to Tata Power is staring at a legal roadblock with the decision of Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) to transfer the shareholdings of the utility to the private company being challenged in the Orissa High Court.
Filing a PIL against the move, secretary of Odisha Power Employees’ Union (OPEU) Dhobei Sahoo has sought a direction to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to audit the assets and liabilities of CESU in order to arrive at the correct figure at which the reserved price ought to have been fixed by OERC while inviting bids.
“The information mentioned by the OERC while floating tender for transfer of the utility that the value of the assets of CESU is around Rs 300 crore was not proper and needs interference of the Court,” Sahoo alleged in his petition seeking quashing of the advertisement and Letter of Intent (LOI).
According to the petition, OERC on September 16, 2017 through an advertisement had invited bids from interested investors for purchase of CESU shareholdings. On December 12, 2019, OERC had issued a LOI in favour of Tata after the private company was declared as the successful bidder.
Sahoo, who is also president of Khurda Citizens’ Forum, sought the Court’s intervention on the ground that the proposed sale of CESU to Tata Power did not include any terms that would protect the entitlements of the existing employees of the utility.
The petitioner has appealed the Court to intervene and direct the State Government to take over the management of CESU instead of transferring 51 per cent shareholdings to a private company.
The PIL was listed on Monday for hearing by the division bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanju Panda and Justice SK Sahoo. But the petition could not be taken up as the court work was suspended on account of a lawyer’s death.