NEW DELHI: Citing violation of constitutional provisions and causing loss to the state’s exchequer, Delhi Lieutenant Governor (L-G) VK Saxena on Friday ordered the removal of four private individuals, including Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission Chairman Jasmine Shah and son of Aam Aadmi Party MP ND Gupta, from the board of Industrialist Anil Ambani owned power DISCOMS—BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna—and be replaced by senior government officers.
The move was based on an inquiry report submitted by the power department and Delhi Chief Secretary where the four individuals have been accused of providing undue financial benefits to the DISCOMS which has led the Delhi government to a revenue loss to the tune of Rs 8,683 crore.
The report, seen by the newspaper, has termed the appointments of private individuals as government directors “illegal” since due process of law was not followed during their nominations to the DISCOMS’ boards. According to the report, the AAP government appointed Shah, Gupta, Umesh Tyagi and JS Deswal to the board of BRPL and BYPL in 2019 despite multiple objections by previous L-Gs.
According to the report, their nominations were objected to by former L-G Najeeb Jung in November 2016 when it was proposed by the city government. However, the AAP government again proposed their nominations which were also disapproved by Anil Baijal in August 2017. Baijal had also directed a Cabinet decision on the matter and sent it back to him in a file so that could invoke a difference of opinion under clause 4 of Article 239AA of the Constitution of India.
However, the Cabinet went ahead of the decision of their appointment them instead without sending the file to Baijal, the report revealed.
On the part of financial loss, the report revealed that the Shah and other directors facilitated a decision by the DISCOM Boards of unilaterally slashed interest rates charged on Late Payment SurCharge (LPSC), which the power companies owe to the government, from 18% to 12%. The action caused a loss of Rs 8,683.67 Cr to the government’s kitty.
The report specifies that being a 49% shareholder at BRPL and BYPL, the Delhi government has empowered their nominees to the board to block any proposal using the veto right, which the members should have exercised.
“It may be noted that the Delhi Govt. has 49% shares in these private DISCOMS and as per Article VI of the shareholder's agreement, the government nominees on its Boards have the veto right to block any inappropriate proposal that is detrimental to the state finances. However, these private nominees instead of protecting the interests of GNCTD, acted in collusion with the private companies to serve the financial interests of DISCOMS,” the report mentioned.