The A.P. High Court (HC) on Monday issued notices to the State government and three power distribution companies (DISCOMs) in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by former Agriculture Minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy against the installation of smart meters in the farm sector, and posted the matter for next hearing on December 20.
The PIL was heard by Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice R. Raghunandan Rao.
In the petition filed by his counsel K. Indraneel Babu, the former Minister alleged that tenders were awarded for affixing the smart meters and creating allied infrastructure under the Ministry of Power (MoP)’s Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) for a price that was nearly 600% more than the price fixed by MoP.