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.
Mr. Chandramohan Reddy sought an inquiry into the matter by an independent authority, preferably by a retired HC judge, and a stay to be imposed on the scheme.
He argued that basically there was no need for the revamp as DISCOMs could gather data directly from the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system.
The decision to install smart meters was taken at the behest of people in power with an intention to benefit the contractors of their choice, when cheaper alternatives were available, the petitioner added.
