BSES RAJDHANI POWER LTD. Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) We are entertaining these writ petitions[W.P. (C) No. 104/2014, W.P. (C) No. 105/2014 and W.P. (C) No. 1005/2021 under Article 32 of the Constitution.] and civil appeals[C.A. No. 4010/2014 and C.A. No. 4013/2014 against the order dtd. 11/3/2014 passed by the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity in I.A Nos. 364-365/2013 in Appeal Nos. 265- 266/2013.] only for examining a limited question as to the law that governs the creation of a "regulatory asset" during the process of tariff determination by the Electricity Regulatory Commissions, its impact on the rights and liabilities of the stakeholders, the limits within which it can be operated, and finally the regulatory duties that it invokes for the Regulatory Commissions. We also clarify that through these proceedings, we are not determining the rights and liabilities of the parties, which will anyways be considered in the pending civil appeals against the orders of the Appellate Tribunal of Electricity[Hereinafter "APTEL".].

(2.) In these writ petitions and civil appeals, the three distribution companies that supply electricity to consumers in the National Capital Territory of Delhi,[Hereinafter "NCT of Delhi".] namely BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd.,[Hereinafter "BRPL".] BSES Yamuna Power Ltd.,[Hereinafter "BYPL".] and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited,[Hereinafter "TPDDL".] have challenged the manner in which the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission[Hereinafter "DERC".] has determined the tariff for retail supply of electricity over the years, leading to the creation and continuation of a "regulatory asset". The prayers in W.P. (C) Nos. 104 and 105/2014 by BRPL and BYPL[Hereinafter collectively referred to as "BSES Discoms".] are similar, which we may formulate as follows:

(3.) TPDDL has also filed W.P. (C) No. 1005/2021, where it has prayed for the following reliefs: