Kerala State Electricity Board Ltd. vs Jhabua Power Limited and Others

Court

Supreme Court of India

Date

30 September 2024

Case No.

Civil Appeal Nos. 10046-10047 of 2024

Result

Disposed

Bench

D.Y. Chandrachud, J.B. Pardiwala, Manoj Misra

Citation

[2024] 9 S.C.R. 971 : 2024 INSC 768

Acts & Sections

Electricity Act, 2003 CPC

Issue for consideration

Whether the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) was right in passing the impugned judgment holding that the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) was not bound by the directives of the State Government issued under Section 108 of the Electricity Act, 2003 and it exceeded its review jurisdiction under Section 94.

Headnote

Electricity Act, 2003 – s.108 – Scope – State Electricity Regulatory Commissions, if ‘bound’ by the directions issued by State Government u/s.108 – Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) allowed the review petition filed by the appellant and approved the Power Supply Agreements in view of the public interest highlighted in the policy directions issued by the State Government u/s.108 holding that KSERC was bound by the directions of the State Government – Order set aside by APTEL by way of the impugned judgment – Correctness:

Held: Correct – State regulatory commissions are not ‘bound’ by the directions of the State Government or the Central Government – Under Section 108, the State Commission shall only be ‘guided’ by the directions issued by the State Government and is not automatically bound by them – s.108 does not control the exercise of quasi-judicial power by the State Commissions based on directions issued by the State Government. [Paras 17, 18] Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 – Or. XLVII, r.1 – Electricity Act, 2003 – s.94(f) – Review – Limited scope – Review petitions filed by the appellant against the order of KSERC declining to grant approval for the Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) were allowed by KSERC and it approved the PSAs in view of the public interest highlighted in the policy directions issued by the State Government – Order set aside by APTEL: Held: An order cannot be made the subject of an appeal under the garb of a review – While reviewing an order, the court or tribunal must be satisfied that there was an error apparent in its previous order, which warrants review – However, while allowing the review petitions, KSERC did not point out any errors in its previous order instead, sole reliance was placed on the subsequent directions of the State Government which highlighted the purported ‘public interest’ that would be served by approving the PSAs – APTEL rightly set aside the order of KSERC on the ground that it exceeded its jurisdiction u/s.94 – Original appeal restored to the file of APTEL. [Para 19]

Judgment 1. These appeals arise from a judgment of the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity1 dated 26 July 2024. 2. Kerala State Electricity Board Limited, the appellant, floated two separate tenders for the procurement of power through a competitive bidding process under Section 63 of the Electricity Act 2003.2 The first was for procuring 450 MW of power and the second was for 400 MW. 3. Two entities emerged as L1 bidders in respect of the two tenders which were floated. However, the L1 bidders did not bid for the entire tender quantum. The L1 bidder in the first bid offered to supply only

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