Madras high court has directed the Tamil Nadu Power Generation Corporation Limited to investigate a 140-crore GST fraud allegation against a private company that was allotted a tender to supply coal to the corporation for three years.
A division bench of Justice S M Subramaniam and Justice K Rajasekar passed the interim order on Thursday, on an appeal moved by P T Bara Daya Energi India Private Limited, challenging the allotment of the tender.
On Dec 20, 2024, a single judge of the court dismissed a plea moved by PT Bara Daya Energi India Private Limited, challenging the rejection of the coal tender bid issued by Tamil Nadu Power Generation Corporation Limited (TNPGCL). The single judge dismissed the writ petition on the sole ground that the petitioner’s holding company was disqualified from participating in the tender.
Representing the petitioner, senior advocate has submitted that the main issue to be determined in the appeal is whether the termination of a contract in favour of the parent company by another state can be held against the subsidiary in Tamil Nadu.
Senior advocate, also appearing for the petitioner, contended that the coal tender was issued unprecedentedly for three years without mentioning any quantity. As the coal index is always volatile, a tender for such a long time and huge quantity would cause a loss to the govt. He further contended that there were only three bidders, which was quite unusual, and with the petitioner being disqualified, only Adani Coal and Smartgen remained in the fray.
“The tender was awarded to Smartgen, who suppressed the fact that it was involved in GST fraud to the tune of 140 crore,” he added.
Representing TNPGCL, advocate general submitted that the allegation of GST fraud has already been looked into and that the period of the contract has been reduced to nine months.
Recording the submissions, the court directed TNPGCL to look into the issue.
Source #TOI
