Weren’t given time to reply to notice, discoms tell High Court

During arguments before the court of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice R S Endlaw, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the Delhi Lt-Governor had taken an “incorrect” decision to conduct the audit on the advice of the erstwhile AAP government.

“The showcause notice issued to us did not mention any clear reason for the audit. The CAG audit cannot be done without giving reasonable opportunity for reply to the showcause notice, which was not given,” Singhvi said.

The three discoms have maintained that the decision was based on “political promises” made by the AAP before coming to power and “proper procedure” had not been followed while ordering the audit. The companies have also claimed that the discoms are beyond the purview of a CAG audit and that the audit was ordered without giving the discoms an opportunity to respond to the showcause notice.

“Earlier, you used to allege redtapeism. Now, a decision has been taken. How this caused prejudice to you? Efficiency should not be an argument,” the court said.

The discoms had approached the division bench in appeal after a single-judge bench refused to impose a stay on audit proceedings. So far, the division bench has also declined to issue a stay. The hearing will now continue on August 11.