Ghost of Enron to haunt Sharad Pawar

The Supreme Court's refusal to bury the Enron-Dabhol power project case could prove to be a fresh headache for former Union Minister Sharad Pawar, who is currently busy stitching the Opposition together.

The Enron project was envisaged in 1994 — when Pawar was Maharashtra chief minister —to meet the state's growing energy needs.

However, the project faced the Opposition's wrath as BJP leader, the late Gopinath Munde, vowed to 'sink it in the Arabian Sea'. It was claimed that the project was fast-tracked to help vested interests. Ahead of the 1995 state assembly elections, allegations flew fast and heavy. After being voted to power, the Sena-BJP government renegotiated the terms and allowed the project to continue. Meanwhile, as Enron, the US energy giant collapsed, the project was revived via a special purpose vehicle. Currently, it produces 500 MW of the installed 1,967 MW.

Later, the Congress-NCP government led by CM Vilasrao Deshmukh ordered an inquiry and the committee headed by Madhav Godbole criticised the renegotiated terms for the plant and recommended a judicial probe.

To that end, a one-member judicial commission headed by Justice SP Kurdukar was set up. However, its functioning was stayed after the Centre said in 2003 that the state had no jurisdiction to conduct a judicial probe.

''It needs to be seen whether the SC now orders fresh inquiry into the deal. This is the perfect opportunity for the BJP-led government to shoot Enron-Dabhol missile against the Congress-NCP combine," said a former civil servant. Another officer argued though that it's like flogging a dead horse. "What is a fresh probe going to yield?" he said.