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Sai Wardha Power Generation Limited v. The Tata Power Company Limited Distribution

Civil Appeal · 2020 INSC 329Decided 3 Apr 2020
Civil Appeal No. 2228 of 2020
Justice L. Nageswara Rao · Justice Deepak Gupta

Background

This order sends the case back; it does not decide the dispute. The question was whether Tata Power's distribution arm could levy wheeling charges for certain high-voltage lines, which depended on whether they were distribution or transmission assets.

Decision Breakdown

This is not a final decision on the dispute. The Court held that the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity erred by ignoring a pending application to amend the licence before the Regulatory Commission. It set aside the Tribunal's judgment without expressing any opinion on its findings, directed the Commission to decide the licence application first, and sent the appeal back to the Tribunal for fresh decision.

Lesson Learnt

A tribunal should not decide a dispute while a directly relevant application is pending before the regulator.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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