IN THE APPELLATE TRIBUNAL FOR ELECTRICITY (Appellate Jurisdiction)

IA No.1310 OF 2024 Dated: 12.02.2025 Present: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Ramesh Ranganathan, Chairperson Hon’ble Smt. Seema Gupta, Technical Member (Electricity)

In the matter of:

GUJARAT URJA VIKAS NIGAM LIMITED Sardar Patel Vidyut Bhavan, Race Court Circle, Vadodara – 390007 (Gujarat) … Appellant(s)

VERSUS

1. TAXUS INFRASTRUCTURE & POWER PROJECTS LTD

804 – A Arcadia, South City – II Gurgaon – 122018 (Haryana) ... Respondent No.1

2. GURAJAT ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AGENCY

4^th Floor, Block No. 11 & 12 Udhyog Bhavan, Sector 11 Gandhinagar – 382017 (Gujarat) ... Respondent No.2

3. GUJARAT ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION CORPORATION LIMITED Sardar Patel Vidyut Bhavan Race Court Circle Vadodara – 390007 (Gujarat) ... Respondent No.3

4. CHIEF ELECTRICAL INSPECTOR

6^th Floor, Block 18, Udhyog Bhavan Sector 11, Gandhinagar – 382 017 (Gujarat) ... Respondent No.4

5. STATE LOAD DESPATCH CENTRE

132 kV Gotri Sub Station Compound Gotri Road, Near TB Hospital Vadodara – 390021 ... Respondent No.5

6. GUJARAT ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION

6^th Floor GIFT ONE Road 5-C Zone 5, GIFT CITY Gandhinagar – 382 355 (Gujarat) ... Respondent No.6 Counsel on record for the Appellant(s) : Anand K. Ganesan Swapna Seshadri Ranjitha Ramachandran Arvind Kumar Dubey for App. 1 Counsel on record for the Respondent(s) : Inder Paul Singh Oberoi R. K. Srivastava for Res. 1 Suparna Srivastava for Res. 6

JUDGMENT

(PER HON’BLE MRS. SEEMA GUPTA, TECHNICAL MEMBER)

1. The instant appeal is preferred challenging the order dated 30.03.2015 passed by the Gujrat Electricity Regulatory Commission (for short “GERC/State Commission”) in Petition No. 1364 of 2013, whereby the State Commission has held that the Solar PV Power plant of the Respondent No. 1 is deemed to be commissioned on 31.03.2013, therefore, Respondent No. 1 is entitled to raise the bills for the energy injected into the grid w.e.f. 01.04.2013 at the tariff rate applicable for the tariff year 01.04.2012 to 31.03.2013. The State Commission has further held that the delay in commissioning of the plant to the extent of 402 days is due to the force majeure events and, therefore, the Respondent No. 1 is not liable to pay liquidated damages for the said delay.

This appeal has chequered history, the details of which in brief, are stated as under:

2. The instant appeal and Appeal No. 131 of 2015 were filed before this Tribunal by GUVNL and Taxus, respectively, aggrieved by the order passed by GERC on 30.03.2015. This Tribunal, vide its common order dated 04.07.2018, disposed of both the appeals, whereby Appeal No. 114 of 2015 was partly allowed and Appeal No. 131 of 2015 was dismissed.

3. Aggrieved by the afore-mentioned order of this Tribunal dated 04.07.2018, GUVNL, the Appellant in the instant appeal, had filed the review petition under R.P. No. 8 of 2018 before this Tribunal. Aggrieved by the very same order dated 04.07.2018 of this Tribunal, both GUVNL and Taxus (Appellants in Appeal No. 114 of 2015 and 131 of 2015) have filed appeals before the Supreme Court in Civil Appeal Diary No. 33187 of 2018 and 4323 of 2019, respectively. The Supreme Court vide its order dated 01.03.2019 directed that the said appeals be listed after the decision in the review petition pending before this Tribunal.

4. This Tribunal, after elaborate hearing, has disposed of the Review Petition No. 8 of 2018 by setting aside the earlier judgment passed by this Tribunal dated 04.07.2018 in the instant appeal i.e., Appeal No. 114 of 2015 vide its order dated 27.05.2024 to the limited extent, the relevant portion of which is extracted here-in-below:

“ In the light of what has been observed hereinabove, the order passed by this Tribunal, in Appeal No. 114 of 2015 dated 04.07.2018, is set aside to the limited extent of (a) non-consideration of issues raised by the Review Petitioner with respect to the two force majeure events ie (i) denial by the Government of Gujarat to implement the project through a Special Purpose