Centre changed policy to ensure Bihar's power plant project goes to a particular firm: Pawan Khera
Patna (PTI): The Congress on Friday accused the Centre of changing its SHAKTI policy to ensure that a power plant project in Bihar's Bhagalpur district goes to a particular private firm close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The solar power project was converted into a thermal project, and the group has been given 1,050 acres of land at the rate of Re one per acre, chairman of the party's Media & Publicity wing, Pawan Khera, claimed in a press conference here.
"Senior BJP leader RK Singh, who served as a minister in the Modi government for 10 years, is saying the project is a scam worth Rs 62,000 crore. According to him, the firm will earn Rs 25,000 crore every year from this project," Khera said.
"Changes were made to the SHAKTI policy to ensure that the power project plant in Bhagalpur's Pirpainti goes to a particular firm. These changes were made directly at the level of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi," Khera alleged.
The SHAKTI (Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala Transparently in India) policy of 2017, formulated to transparently allocate coal to the power sector, was revised earlier this year to provide "greater flexibility, wider eligibility and better accessibility to coal", according to PIB release of July 28.
"We are also asking from the Central government: why did the Ministry of Energy of the Government of India revise the Bihar government's feasibility report to convert a solar project into a thermal project just to favour a particular group close to the PM," Khera said.
Won't this change have a negative impact on Bihar's Renewable Purchase Obligation, he asked.
The Congress leader also wondered why, despite the absence of coal linkage, was a thermal power plant under Tariff Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) given under the provisions of SHAKTI policy.
He asked if issuing a tender without finalising details is not violation of rules.
Besides, Khera said, when this project was to be given to a private firm, why a budget of Rs 21,000 crore was allocated for it in the central budget.
He alleged that the tender for the thermal project was issued without approval of the use Ganga river water, and the Bihar government spent Rs 58 crore on this project before it was floated.
Besides, no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and cost-benefit analysis were conducted for this project, he claimed.
Despite opposition of the several engineers and experts for the Pirpainti project, it was handed over to the favoured group, the Congress leader said.
The group has been given 1,050 acres of land at the rate of one rupee per acre, he said.
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SC refuses to entertain plea against deletion of names from WB voter list, terms it ‘premature’
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New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea by a group of 13 people seeking its intervention in the deletion of their names from the voter list during the Special Institutional Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, where polling for the first phase of the assembly election will be held on April 23.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi termed the petition "premature", directing the aggrieved parties to approach the established appellate tribunals instead.
"Since the petitioners (Quaraisha Yeasmin and others) have already approached the appellate tribunals… in our considered view, the apprehensions expressed in the petition are premature. If the plea is allowed, then necessary consequences will follow,” the bench said in its order, adding that it has not expressed any views on the merits of the plea.
The plea alleged that the Election Commission was summarily deleting names without following due process, and that appeals against these deletions were not being heard in a timely manner.
The Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court has set up as many as 19 tribunals headed by former HC chief justices and judges to decide appeals against deletions of names of persons from the voters’ lists.
Senior advocate D S Naidu, appearing for the poll panel, informed the court that there are approximately 30 to 34 lakh appeals currently pending. "Every tribunal now has over one lakh appeals to handle," the bench said.
The petitioners’ counsel argued that the EC had failed to place necessary orders before the relevant judicial authorities and that the "freezing date" for the electoral rolls should be extended.
"If I am not allowed to argue, then what is the use? Will these appeals be decided within a timeframe or just kept extending?" the counsel asked.
Justice Bagchi, during the hearing, referred to the sanctity of the electoral process and said the right to vote is not merely a constitutional formality but a "sentimental" pillar of democracy.
"The right to vote in a country you were born in is not just constitutional, but sentimental. It is about being part of a democracy and helping elect a government," he said.
He, however, said that the tribunals, manned by former judges, cannot be overburdened by fixing the timelines for adjudications.
"It is not the end justifying the means, but the means justifying the end," Justice Bagchi said.
"We need to protect due process rights. The voter should not be sandwiched between two constitutional authorities," he said, adding that it would not interdict the election process at this stage.
Justice Bagchi noted that the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice had already formulated the manner and mode for appeals, which began on Monday.
"Unless and until an enormous number of voters are excluded or it materially affects the election... the election cannot be cancelled," the bench said, adding that judicial intervention is intended to "promote elections, not interdict them."
The CJI emphasised that the petitioners must exhaust their remedies before the appellate tribunals.
Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, and votes will be counted on May 4.
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