Ritika Singh Sisodiya/ TNNLucknow: The Allahabad High Court’s Lucknow bench on Thursday summoned the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary and three senior officials to appear before it after the state govt failed to give clear answers on whether its electricity corporations were legally empowered to levy charges on Hindalco Industries Ltd for drawing water from the Rihand river.The bench has directed the chief secretary to join the proceedings through video conferencing , while it has ordered the additional chief secretary/principal secretary of the irrigation department, the additional chief secretary/principal secretary of the energy department and the managing director of Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (UPRVUNL) to appear before it on Aug 31.A bench of justices Rajan Roy and Rajeev Bharti passed the order on the writ petition filed by Hindalco Industries Limited and another, concerning the levy of charges for drawing water from the Rihand river.The court had earlier reserved its judgment in the matter but reopened the issue after finding discrepancies between the stand conveyed by the state during arguments and the position emerging from its records.In its July 2 order, the bench had sought a categorical response on whether the erstwhile UP State Electricity Board, UP Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd or UPRVUNL had the authority to raise bills against Hindalco for drawing water from the Rihand river.It had also asked whether the state claimed ownership over the river water and, if so, over which stretch or area, and whether the electricity corporations had any exclusive right to use the water.
