Some of the points of significance to note are as below:
a) The concept of transmission tariff has come into being for the first
time in the OER Act, 1995 as a corollary to the legislative
enactment that under the said Act it would be necessary to obtain license for transmission
also whereas till then license was required only for supply of electricity. Thus there was
no legal authority under earlier provision of law for transmission tariff. Hence, the
charges for wheeling and the rate of the same were not flowing from any legal authority
vested in the govt. It was apparently case-specific decision issued under executive powers
of the Government. Similar methods were applied earlier by the Govt. in case specific
decisions. The legal position in a similar case relating to ONGC which went up to the
Supreme Court is as follows. In the case of ONGC vrs. Association of ONGC (AIR 1990 SC
1851) some industrial undertaking had entered into contracts with the ONGC for supply of
natural gas to them for a fixed period. When the contracts were entered into, the Central
Government had no power to fix price. In this way, they were commercial contracts pure and
simple between the Corporation and private parties. After the contract period was over new
contracts were entered into from time to time and prices were also raised. The industries
challenged the said action by filing Writ Petitions in the High Court of Gujarat. The High
Court allowed the petitions. The Corporation approached the Supreme Court. The apex Court
held that ONGC cannot be said to be a public utility undertaking and, therefore, it was
necessary that price must be fixed on 'cost plus' basis only . The Court ruled that ONGC
had power to revise price of gas and the undertakings were not entitled to demand supply
as of right without contracts.
b) Further, in the perspective stated in paragraph 15, it is clear that
the Govt. policy with regard to electricity had dramatically changed. Govt. has power to
make policy on any subject as and when it likes. However the policy is not immutable. It
is perfectly within the competence of the Govt. to change it, rechange it, adjust it and
readjust it and withdraw it from time to time according to the compulsion of the
circumstances and imperatives of public purpose. Policy as reflected in the Act of a later
date has to prevail over policy state statements issued earlier. After the OER Act, 1995 the authority for pricing and license relating to
transmission of electricity reside with the OERC. The schedule of tariff and charges for
all customers are to be determined by the OERC in accordance with provisions specified in
Chapter VIII of the Act. If we were to accept the claim of the petitioner that under
government resolution the petitioner company has to be exempted from payment of tariff
which the OERC determines as just and reasonable and has to be allowed some other tariff,
the necessary consequence of this will be indirectly subsidising the petitioner company.
This is not permissible under Section 12(3) of
the OER Act, 1995 as long as the Government does not bear the cost
of the subsidy.
c) The State Govt. has not issued any policy directive under the OER Act, 1995 and the policy directives which were issued earlier will
cease to be valid if they are not consistent with the provisions of the OER
Act, 1995.
It thus appears that the Govt. resolutions issued dated 09.11.92 and
13.09.93 prior to coming into force of the OER Act, 1995 did not
vest any right on the petitioner so as to exempt it from the tariff schedule now decided
by the Commission and that in any case the Govt. resolution which is inconsistent with
provisions of law on tariff as well as on Government's comparatively limited right under
the OER Act, 1995 to issue policy directives cannot be implemented.
17. It is also evident that significant issues have to
be resolved and elaborate reasoning have to be gone into with a view to resolve issues
arising out of the petition. Some of the important issues which need to be resolved are as
below:
(a) Whether the Govt. of Orissa was within its legal competence to fix
wheeling charges/transmission incidence and any charge for that matter when tariff
fixation was beyond the purview of the Government.
(b) Whether the rate of wheeling charges was a matter of Govt. policy.
(c) Whether Govt. policy directive and rates fixed in a power scarcity
situation will continue to be operative in a power surplus situation.
(d) Whether after coming into force of the OER Act,
1995 when the power to fix tariff and all aspects of regulation of the electricity
industry have been vested with the OERC, any tariff fixed by the Govt. prior to coming
into force of the Act would not be repugnant to the provision of law and particularly of Chapter VIII of the OER Act, 1995.
There are other intricate issues also which need to be resolved if the
transmission tariff fixed by the Commission on the basis of financial principles
incorporated in the OER Act. 1995 has to be modified. It is well
settled that an error which has to be established by long drawn process of reasoning on
points where there may conceivably be two opinions can hardly be said to be an error
apparent on the face of the record (Satyanarayan Vrs. Malikarjun A 1960 SC 137).
18. It will be relevant to briefly examine the facts
of cases cited by the learned Advocate and determine applicability of ratio of these cases
to the present case While citing the case at AIR 1989 MP - 115, the learned counsel
invited our attention to the observation of the judges that the court may reopen its
judgement if a manifest wrong has been done and it would be necessary to pass an order to
do full and effective justice. It was also observed that omission of the Court to consider
and apply its mind to a material provision of law is an error apparent on the face of
record. In the cited case a notification providing time limit was referred to by the
party, but not considered by the Court, and therefore, the order was held to suffer from
mistake apparent on the fact of the record. In the instant case, the petitioner did not
raise any objection or provide any evidence or paper before the Commission even though the
public notice published in newspapers inviting objection referred to transmission tariff.
Hence the question of omission to consider and apply its mind to a relevant evidence did
not arise. In AIR 1960 J & K - 125 our attention was drawn to the observations that if
a judgement or order does not effectively deal with and determine an important point on
which the decision of the case is to depend and the omission appears on the face of the
judgement or order the judgement or order could well be reviewed. It was also stated in
the head note of the said judgement that if an obvious error of material fact appears on
the face of the record it can be a valid ground for review. This citation seems to be
quite inappropriate as the Commission has not failed to effectively deal with and
determine any material fact. All the facts and issues raised before the Commission have
been dealt elaborately and with sufficient reasoning. In Hadi Das Vrs. Collector Cuttack
quoted by the learned counsel, the Hon'ble Orissa High Court held that decree passed in
ignorance of the amended provisions of the Act amounted to mistake calling for review. In
the said case the subordinate judge had reviewed the executive jurisdiction vested in by
law of rejecting application of the petitioner on the mistake impression that the
compensation payable for the land in question stood finally determined by the High court.
It needs no elaboration to infer that the ratio of the said case has no relevance to the
facts of the present case. In Ranjit Singh Vrs. Union of India. Our attention was drawn to
the observations that if all relevant factors are not considered or irrelevant
consideration allowed to find place, the decision is vitiated by arbitrary judgement. The
ratio of this case has absolutely no relevance. This was a writ case in which the Hon'ble
Supreme Court was adjudicating whether the decision of the Government was arbitrary
because it had not taken relevant factors into consideration. The powers of the Court in
writ jurisdiction are extremely wide. It is not permissible to challenge the merit of a
decision in review petition. A review is by no means an appeal in disguise where by
alleged erroneous decision is reheard and recorrected, but lies only for patent error
[Tungabhadra & Co. Vrs. Government (A 1964 SC 1372)]. In AIR 1960 Manipur 74, the
Hon'ble High Court allowed review on the ground that important documents which were in the
record and which affect the very jurisdiction of the Court was not considered by the
Court. The Court observed that failure to consider the most important point and issues
where the case was an exceptional one is an error apparent on the face of the record. It
will suffice to say that it is too far- fetched to compare the facts of this case with the
facts of the case before us. In the very same case, the Hon'ble Judges have observed with
regard to certain other alleged error that they relate to matters which should have been
properly raised by the petitioner in an appeal and not in a petition for review.
19. Dwelling on the petitioner's claim of continuance
of a special right for a specified rate of transmission tariff vested as a result of Govt.
of Orissa policy directives we have to observe as follows:
(a) The Govt. of Orissa resolutions dated 09.11.92 and 13.09.93 in so
far as they relate to the wheeling charges were not policy directives and hence they have
no valid legal basis.
(b) The Govt. did not have the right or legal authority at any point of
time even under the Electricity (Supply) Act to fix tariff or other charges in respect of
specific services renderred by the OSEB.
(c) Any special right conferred by the Govt. through executive
instruction on any user of OSEB was extinguished and is not binding on the GRIDCO after
coming into force of OER Act, 1995.
(d) In view of the provisions of Chapter VIII
of the OER Act 1995 tariffs and charges of all types in respect of
customers in the State have to be fixed solely and exclusively by the Orissa Electricity
Regulatory Commission in accordance with the procedure prescribed in the Act.
No factor which is not in accordance with the procedure or not in confirmity with the
provisions regarding fixation of tariff have any legal basis or significance.
(e) In view of (d) above, even if the executive instruction or policy
directive was valid as a legacy it would have to be ignored in this case as repugnant to
the provision of law and procedure laid down under the OER Act, 1995
regarding fixation of tariff and other charges and also regarding powers of the Govt. of
Orissa.
20. In the light of above observations it has to be
held that even if the two Govt. notifications quoted by the petitioner would have been
taken into account they would have made no material difference to the procedure and
finding regarding determination of transmission tariff. We, therefore, hold that there is
no mistake or error apparent on the face of the record and hence there is no justification
for inviting review jurisdiction.
21. It hardly needs to be emphasized that the scope of
an application for review has only a limited jurisdiction circumscribed by the definitive
limits fixed by the language used in Or 47 R.1 of Civil Procedure Code. Even through the
petitioner has not claimed discovery of new evidence, it has made an attempt to extend the
scope of "error on the face of the record" to cover a new evidence which is
claimed to be relevant and whose non-consideration is stated to have amounted to error.
The new evidence must be relevant and of such a character that had it been considered, it
might possibly have altered the judgement. The petitioner did not raise any objection
during the public hearing. The government resolutions were not produced; and as
demonstrated earlier, even if they were produced, they would have made no difference to
our decision .As far as error apparent on the face of record it must be patently gross and
manifest (Mir Haji V. Hanchand, A 1939 S 137, Ranbir V Sheo A 1939890). "Error
apparent on the face of the record" is an error which can be seen by a mere perusal
of the record without reference to any other matter. The error must be relating to some
paper document, evidence on the record. The power of review "to correct arithmetical
or clerical error or errors apparent on the face of the record arising or occurring from
accidental slip or omission in an order passed "cannot include the power to review an
order on grounds which were not raised or arguments which were not advanced at the first
instance" (Construction Co. V. State of Orissa (1966) 3 SCR 99 (104).
22. In the light of above facts and analysis of law,
we have to conclude that the review jurisdiction is not attracted in the facts of the
case, and therefore, the petition has to be rejected. We have also to order that there
shall be no stay on any part of our order dated 12.03.97.
Pronounced this day the 03rd May, 1997 in the open Court.
Sd/-
(D.K.ROY)
(MEMBER)
I agree.
Sd/-
(A.R.MOHANTY)
(MEMBER)
CASE NO. 7 & 8 OF 1997
T. R. - 008 - 1997
Order No.001 dated 31st March, 1997
31.03.97 M/s. ICCL the applicant is
represented by Shri S. K. Pattanaik, Sr. Vice President (C/A), Shri H. Vidyasankar,
Company Secretary, Shri S. K. Nanda, Sr. Advisor (Power), Shri P.C. Das, D.G.M. (Law),
Shri Sanjeev Das, Asst. Manager (P&C) and Ms. Anuradha Dutt, Advocate for ICCL.
Heard the learned Advocate of M/s. ICCL on the matter of stay and on
Review Petition.
The matter is posted to 15th April, 1997 for further hearing.
Issue notice to Gridco, (Respondent) and Govt. of Orissa, Deptt. of
Energy (Affected Party) on question of admission and in the stay matter. The Respondent
and the affected parties may file counter by 10th April, 1997. There shall be no interim
exparte stay of para 11.3 (9) of Commission's Order No. 009
dated 12th March, 1997 in the matter of Case No. 4 of 1997.
(A.R.MOHANTY)
MEMBER
I agree.
(D.K.ROY)
MEMBER
Order No. 002 dated 15th April, 1997
15.04.97 M/s. ICCL the applicant is
represented by Mrs. Anuradha Dutta, Advocate. Shri S. K. Pattanaik, Sr. Vice President
(C/A), Shri H. Vidyasankar, Company Secretary, Shri S. K. Nanda, Sr. Advisor (Power), Shri
P.C. Das, D.G.M. (Law), Shri Sanjeev Das, Asst. Manager (P&C).
The affected party GRIDCO was represented by Sri B.P. Rekhani,
S.E.(Commerce). GRIDCO's counter affidavit dated 10.04.97 has been taken on record.
Rejoinder filed by the petitioner to the court of GRIDCO is also taken on record. Heard
the learned Advocate of M/s ICCL on the matter of stay and on the question of admission of
the main case.
Hearing in the matter is concluded. Ordered that the petition for stay
is rejected. Order on admission reserved to be pronounced on 29.04.97.
(A.R.MOHANTY)
MEMBER
I agree.
(D.K.ROY)
MEMBER
Order No. 003 dated 29th April, 1997
29.04.97 The order with reference to
hearing on 15.04.97 is not ready. Pronouncement of order postponed to 03.05.97 at 11. A.M.
(A.R.MOHANTY)
MEMBER
I agree.
(D. K.ROY)
MEMBER
Order No. 004 dated 03rd May, 1997
03.05.97 Representative of M/s. ICCL is
absent. Representatives of Gridco Sri Mahendra Kumar, Director (Commerce), Shri B. P.
Rekhani, S.E.(Commerce) and Shri R.K. Mohanty, Executive Engineer (Commerce) are present.
Order delivered in separate sheets. The petition for review is rejected. Copies of the
order be sent to the petitioner.
(A.R.MOHANTY)
MEMBER
I agree.
(D.K.ROY)
MEMBER
Back to "Orders" |