IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
I.A. NO.___________ OF 2025
IN
CIVIL APPEAL NO._____________ OF 2025
IN THE MATTER OF:-
Southern Power Distribution Company of
Andhra Pradesh Ltd. & Ors. …Appellant(s)
Versus
Vaayu (India) Power Corporation
Pvt. Ltd. & Anr. ...Respondent(s)
APPLICATION FOR DIRECTIONS
TO
THE HON’BLE CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA
AND HIS COMPANION JUDGES OF THE
HON’BLE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA.
THE HUMBLE APPEAL OF THE
APPELLANT ABOVE NAMED
MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH:
1. The present appeal is preferred under Section 125 of the
Electricity Act, 2003 (Act, 2003) against the Impugned
Judgment and final order dated 19.12.2024 passed by
Hon’ble Appellate Tribunal for Electricity at New Delhi
(APTEL) in Appeal No.200 of 2024. The Impugned Judgment
upholds the judgment of the Andhra Pradesh Electricity
Regulatory Commission (APERC) allowing O.P. No. 13 of
2023 filed by Respondent No.1 and dismissing O.P. No. 32 of
2023 filed by the appellant herein.
2. That along with the aforementioned Civil Appeal, an
application seeking interim stay of the Impugned Judgment
has been filed. However, due to an inadvertent error, the
prayer clause of the application does not also seek a stay on
the underlying judgment of the APERC.
3. The judgments of both the APTEL and the APERC are
required to be stayed so that status quo under the PPA may
be restored and Respondent no.1 may be directed to
continue supplying power to Appellant no.1 at the rate of Rs.
2.64/- per unit, as fixed by the order of the APERC dated
28.06.2022 disposing of O.P. No. 29 of 2020.
4. The aforementioned petition was filed in pursuance of Article
2 of the PPA, which states that the tarriff rate for the first 10
years from the Commercial Operation date shall be Rs.
3.50/- per unit and that the tarriff payable beyond the 10 th
year shall be determined by the APERC.
5. Respondent no.1 has sought to terminate the PPA only after
the tarriff rate was lowered to Rs. 2.64/- per unit by the order
of the APERC, as can be seen from the date of the
preliminary notice, which was sent on 11.01.2023, as well as
the date of filing O.P. No. 13 of 2023, which was 07.03.2023.
6. A perusal of the previous correspondences sent across by
Respondent no.1, as well as the previous petitions (O.P. No.
1 of 2020 and O.P. No. 113) would show that until the tarriff
was lowered, only a specific performance of the contract was
sought by Respondent no.1 when there was a delay in
payment.
7. This makes it abundantly clear that the present proceedings
are an attempt to use the pretext of the default that has
occurred on account of financial difficulties being faced by
the Appellants, to unilaterally terminate the contract and
avoid supplying power at the lowered tarriff rate.
8. After consistently receiving payments for the power supplied
by it for the first ten years of the PPA, and duly recovering
the capital costs incurred by it in setting up the power
generation station, the present attempt by Respondent no.1
to unilaterally terminate the PPA even after receiving all the
arrears due to it, is an attempt to profiteer at the cost of the
end consumers in the State of Andhra Pradesh, and supply
inefficient and higher priced power (due to transmission
costs) to consumers elsewhere.
9. It is pressed that if Respondent no.1 ceases to supply
power in accordance with the terms of the PPA, the
power supply to a portion of the consumers within
the state will be adversely impacted .
10. Moreover, given that Respondent no.1 has already
received in full, the amount due to it, it would not be
prejudiced in any manner, by the grant of the stay
being sought
11. Additional grounds raised within the Civil Appeal
have not been repeated for the sake of brevity, but
establish a prima facie case in favor of the Appellant
12. The balance of convenience in the case at hand, is
entirely in favour of the Appellant.
13. Allowing Respondent no.1 to cease supplying power
even after receiving all the arrears due to it would
irreparably harm both the Appellants as well as the
public at large.
14. That it is otherwise in the interest of justice, that the
prayer of the Appellant is granted
15. That the present application has been made bonafide and in
the interests of justice.
PRAYER
It is, therefore, most respectfully prayed that this Hon’ble Court
may graciously be pleased to:
a) Grant a stay on the operation and the implementation of the
Judgment of the APERC dated 20.12.2023, and the Impugned
Judgment of the APTEL dated 19.12.2024, and that the
Respondent no.1 be directed to continue supplying power in
accordance with the terms of the PPA at the tariff fixed by
the APERC vide its order dated 28.06.2022.
b) pass such other further orders which this Hon’ble Court may
deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case.
AND FOR THIS ACT OF KINDNESS APPELLANT AS IN DUTY BOUND
SHALL EVER PRAY.
FILED BY
(TARUN GUPTA)
ADVOCATE FOR APPELLANT
NEW DELHI
FILED ON: .02.2025
