Last September in Tamil Nadu electricity charges were increased. The government subsidizes the electricity bill for the first hundred units.
An order was issued on October 6 last that electricity consumers should link their electricity connection number with Aadhaar number to get this subsidy.
National People’s Shakti Party leader advocate M.L. Ravi has filed a public interest litigation in the Madras High Court seeking cancellation of this ordinance. In that petition, it was informed that Aadhaar linking can be done only for one house and if the Aadhaar number of the tenants is linked, after they vacate, there will be problem in registering the Aadhaar linking of the new tenants.
The government, which conducts special camps to link Aadhaar number, has been accused of not notifying other documents that can be used in lieu of Aadhaar number as per the Aadhaar Act. It has been stated that electricity subsidy will not be provided unless Aadhaar number is linked and there is no provision in the law for that. It has been informed that if Aadhaar is to be made mandatory for the subsidy, it should be provided from the State Consolidated Fund.
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The petition demanded that the Power Generation and Distribution Corporation should be ordered not to force Aadhaar number to be linked to get electricity tariff subsidy as Aadhaar linking causes discrimination in receiving social welfare scheme benefits and the ordinance making Aadhaar linking mandatory should be cancelled.
When this petition came up for hearing last time before the sitting of Chief Justice Raja and Justice Bharata Chakraborty, it was argued by the petitioner that since only the Aadhaar of the house owner can be linked while linking the electricity connection number with the Aadhaar number, the tenant will not get the government subsidy and the approval of the Electricity Regulatory Commission has not been obtained for linking the Aadhaar. .
Opposing these arguments, on behalf of the Power Generation and Distribution Corporation, it was explained that the matter of tenants getting subsidy is a matter between the owner and the tenant, Aadhaar will be linked only on the basis of meter, and the notification about Aadhaar linking will be issued only after getting all the approvals.
The judges, who passed judgment in this case today, dismissed the petition saying that the case was filed without any basic evidence.
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