Hours after he listed out the ways to resolve the prevailing power crisis in Punjab while taking on his party’s government and also the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, former Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu was in dock for allegedly owing more than Rs eight lakh as pending bills to the state power utility. As per the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited’s (PSPCL) website, the electricity charges to the tune of Rs 8,67,540 of Sidhu’s Amritsar residence are yet to be paid, with July 2 as the last date for making payment. Sidhu was not available for comments despite repeated attempts.
Cashing in on the situation, Sidhu’s rivals and opposition parties have been sharing a copy of Sidhu’s outstanding bill on social media.
“The pending amount is over the period of eight months. Sidhu owed PSPCL Rs 17,62,742. But after a recovery drive was initiated by us, he had paid an amount close to Rs 10 lakh in March. Later, he had raised objections over the surcharge amount and kept the remaining amount pending. His case is being reviewed,” said a senior PSPCL officer.
Officials said that Sidhu had applied for a one-time settlement of the bill after raising objections on the surcharge.At the same time, the PSPCL officer maintained that the Powercom was not able to act against the leader because of his political clout. “There are many cases in which the consumers, with a lower outstanding amount, faced disconnections. But, here in Sidhu’s case, PSPCL is hesitating to act,” added the official.