Punjab: HC wants chief secretary’s affidavit on PSPCL finances

The government had argued that PIL is not maintenable as the petitioners have not appropriately established their credentials for filing the plea

The high court has directed the Punjab chief secretary to file an affidavit regarding the financial position and proposed borrowings of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL).

The order, passed on October 16, was released on Tuesday. (HT File)

The directions from the bench of chief justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and justice Rohit Kapoor came on a public interest litigation (PIL) by one Jaskirat Singh and others seeking complete record relating to the “ ₹10,000 crore loan being raised by the PSPCL”. The order, passed on October 16, was released on Tuesday.

The government had argued that PIL is not maintenable as the petitioners have not appropriately established their credentials for filing the plea.

“Having gone through the objection taken by the respondents, we find that the issue raised by the petitioners in the present matter does involve an element of public interest, inasmuch as, it is asserted that the state government has not cleared the dues of PSPCL to the extent of thousands of crores and instead the PSPCL is being forced to take loans,” the bench observed.

Issue of maintainability

“In our view, the issue of maintainability can be gone into at an appropriate stage; but the facts prayed before the court are such that this court would require a reply from the respondents on merits,” it said, adding that these circumstances the chief secretary would file an affidavit “clarifying the factual assertions which are made in the present petition. ”

To repeated requests from the state that first PIL should be heard on maintainability and merits of the case should be gone into by the court only after that, the court asserted that the law is well settled that “this court in appropriate matters can take up the causes of public interest on its own”. “Though we find that the specific details with regard to earlier matters filed by the petitioner have not been disclosed but considering the issue, which is raised before us, we are prima facie of the view that the matter does raise issues of substantial public interest”, the court explained in its order. This PIL sought directions to the government to release the outstanding power subsidy to PSPCL in advance under Section 65 of the Electricity Act, 2003, particularly when the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) has recorded a shortfall of ₹11,000 crore up to March 31 and assessed ₹26,000 crore payable during 2026-27, including the previous shortfall.

Clear default power dues: PIL

It also demanded that state be asked to clear the default amount of ₹2,300 crore crore towards electricity dues outstanding against its departments as at the end of July 2026, along with applicable surcharge and other charges. In the alternative PSPCL be directed to disconnect the electricity supply of defaulting departments under Section 56 of the Electricity Act, 2003, it further demanded.

The directions have also been sought to PSPCL to take necessary steps to recover its trade receivables of ₹8,100 crore as reflected in its balance sheet on March 31 after proper reconciliation.

The complete record relating to the proposed loan of ₹10,000 crore, the reported arranger fee of ₹150 crore and the subsequent bank loan of ₹5,500 crore, particularly when PSPCL is already carrying borrowings of approximately ₹14,200 crore as on March 31 be sought, the PIL demanded adding that the corporation should be asked not to raise “unnecessary loans” without first considering the outstanding subsidy and recoverable dues to utilise the borrowed amount only for its sanctioned purposes, so that the state government’s failure to clear its liabilities does not result in an additional debt and interest burden upon PSPCL and ultimately the general public and electricity consumers, it argued.