04 April,2018 07:51 PM IST | New Delhi | IANS
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the CBI to submit status report on a plea over alleged over-invoicing of equipment and fuel imported for power plants by the electricity generating companies of Adani and Essar groups.
A division bench of Justice S. Ravindra Bhat and Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva sought response from Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and listed the matter for May 1 for further hearing.
The court has asked the agency to apprise the status of the FIR registered by it against state-run entities -- Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation (MMTC) and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) -- in connection with alleged over-invoicing of coal imports.
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The court granted more time to the Central government to file response on the PIL filed jointly by two NGOs -- Centre for Public Interest Litigation and Common Cause -- who alleged that the power firms belonging to the two groups were allegedly inflating the value of imports for their power plants to siphon money abroad and avail higher power rate compensation.
The NGOs has claimed that the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had earlier unearthed that public and private sector energy companies were siphoning away several thousands crores of rupees abroad.
Highlighting their concern about the increasing trend of over-invoicing by the private companies in the power sector with huge public interest ramifications, the petitioners has sought SIT probe into alleged over-invoicing of equipment and fuel imported for power plants by the electricity generating companies.
The CBI had registered a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) based on the DRI showcause notice to Adani in May 2014, however, it apparently closed it without even registering an FIR during the tenure of CBI Director Ranjit Sinha, the pleas said.
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