This is apropos a Business Recorder op-ed "Power sector: legal conundrum" carried by the newspaper on Sunday. The writer, Barrister Asghar Khan, has raised a highly important point in relation to the power law. According to him, "It will be a great surprise to know that the Electricity Act 1910 is still in the field, which is a redundant piece of legislation with passage of over 100 years and because the electricity market has since undergone marked transformation. There is practically no law available to the federal government for exercise of powers in relation to generation, transmission, distribution and regulation functions keeping in view the market trends and global practices."
His argument seems to have advocated the need for a fresh legislation aimed at transforming the entire power sector in the country. It is therefore important to have a look on India's electricity act. The Electricity Act 2003 is an act of the parliament of India. Before the enactment of this law India's power sector too was guided by the Indian Electricity Act 1910 that the writer has mentioned, and rightly so, as Pakistan electricity act in his op-ed. Our policymakers are therefore required to examine how efficiently India's new electricity law covers major issues involving generation, distribution, transmission and trading in power before they embark on the journey of replacing the existing law with a new one.