PIL seeks CBI inquiry into alleged Rs 10,000 crore power scam

PIL seeks CBI inquiry into alleged Rs 10,000 crore power scam
UNI Source

Central Bureau of Investigation CBI

12 Sep, UNI: The Department of Energy and Power and the Sikkim Power Development Corporation Limited (SPDC) are in the news for the wrong reasons.

The Comptroller and Auditor General Sikkim (CAG) has been consistently coming out with the gross financial, procedural and policy related anomalies in the Department, in its reports since 2004.

However, since the CAG report on Departmental shortcomings is sent for review and corrective action to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), as per constitutional protocol, in Sikkim it becomes a futile exercise since the PAC members including its Chairman is a government appointee and members of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front party, which enjoys a majority of all 32 seats in the Legislative Assembly.

A fresh PIL was filed and notice issued in the bench of the acting Chief Justice, SP Wangdi at the High Court of Sikkim on August 17.

The petitioner in this instance through a voluminous document comprising of not less than 500 pages of documents pertaining to the irregularities, has appealed against the astronomical loss of revenue by the Department of Power and Energy pertaining to the private power developers operating in the state since 2004, and the manner in which the MOUs were signed with these companies, including questioning the credibility of the promoters of these companies.

The PIL filed has appealed for a detailed inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the Department as has been supported by the CAG reports in details and sought the Court’s intervention to order nothing short of a Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) inquiry in the matter.

Sources informed UNI that the initial (preliminary) hearing was held while the PIL was being admitted and that the next hearing is scheduled for November 2011. UNI