wp4475-12.odt 1 Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY,
NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR.
WRIT PETITION NO.4475/2012
Smt. Chhabibai wd/o Shamrao
Gadgilwar, aged about 65 years,
Occu- Nil, R/o Plot No.125,
Jaidurga Layout-2, Somalwada,
Nagpur. .. PETITIONER
ig .....VERSUS.....
Spanco Nagpur Discom Limited,
Narang Tower, Civil Lines,
Nagpur. .. RESPONDENT
Shri R.V. Rathod, Advocate for Petitioner.
Shri M.S. Wakil, Advocate for Respondent.
CORAM : B.R. GAVAI AND SUNIL P.DESHMUKH, JJ.
DATE OF RESERVING THE JUDGMENT : OCTOBER 12, 2012.
DATE OF PRONOUNCING THE JUDGMENT : OCTOBER 20, 2012.
JUDGMENT (Per Sunil P. Deshmukh, J.)
1. RULE. Rule made returnable forthwith. The petition is heard finally with the consent of the learned counsel for the parties.
2. The petitioner has approached this Court seeking direction to respondent to reconnect energy supply to her residential accommodation which had been disconnected without any prior notice or intimation and ::: Downloaded on - 02/08/2016 17:27:41 ::: wp4475-12.odt 2 Judgment terming the action by the respondent to be bad in law. The petitioner claims that since decades she has been a consumer of the electrical energy and there had not been a single occasion of abrupt disconnection, such as the one that has taken place on 12.09.2012. It has been claimed by her that the respondent had entered the premises of the petitioner without any notice or intimation and had disconnected the electric supply, purporting to conclude that the meter had been tampered with and thus the petitioner is liable to be prosecuted and punished. Simultaneously the petitioner had been handed over a demand note of Rs. 1,00,000/-
instructing her that she would be required to deposit a sum of Rs.
1,00,000/-.
3. It has been submitted that the petitioner has not tampered with the meter and on the contrary the said meter had been replaced by the then M.S.E.D.C.L. about 6-7 years back since the earlier one, had not been working properly. According to her, the seal had been intact and had not been tampered with. The alleged theft cannot be imputed to her if at all the meter had been tampered with and running slow.
4. The respondent has submitted that on 12.09.2012 the electric meter of the petitioner had been inspected around 1.30 p.m. and found that it had been running slow. Further, the meter had been opened in the presence of the petitioner and panch witnesses and had been found to have been tampered with. It is under these circumstances, she had ::: Downloaded on - 02/08/2016 17:27:41 ::: wp4475-12.odt 3 Judgment been given a bill of Rs.74,265/- along with compounding charges of Rs.
24,000/- assessing consumption at 6538 units. It has been further stated that the petitioner had initially agreed to pay but had thereafter neglected the same and has instead rushed to this Court. It has been submitted that pursuant to Sections 135 and 138 of the Electricity Act, 2003, the supply had been disconnected and complaint had been lodged. It is claimed that there is no substance in the allegations that without any prior notice the electric supply of the petitioner is disconnected and the electric meter was removed, since the same had been done as per its empowerment under the Electricity Act. It has been claimed that there is special Court under said enactment and the petitioner has a remedy under the same before the said Court.
5. The petitioner appears to be 65 year old lady staying along with her elder sister claimed to be in her nineties and daughter of about 40 years along with her child and that together they get about Rs.
16,500/- per month. It is claimed that they are not in a position to deposit such a huge amount with the respondent. Said position is not disputed by the other side, however, purport to support their action contending that it is in accordance with the provisions of law. Looking at that, the petitioner is senior citizen and is staying along with two other ladies and a child, the respondents with empathy would do well to appreciate problems being faced and suffered by the petitioner. It ::: Downloaded on - 02/08/2016 17:27:41 ::: wp4475-12.odt 4 Judgment appears that the electricity supply has been cut off on 12.09.2012 on the allegation of theft. The same will have to be looked into and investigated.
It would not be in appropriate, till such time, electric power supply be reconnected to petitioner's house.
6. Under the circumstances without detaining, prohibiting, or preventing the respondent to investigate and inquire into the matter for a proper action in respect of the allegations, we deem it appropriate to direct the respondents to reconnect the electricity supply to the petitioner's house on payment of Rs.20,000/- to the respondent. The petitioner would be liable to pay for electricity consumption charged by respondent regularly per month. The respondent on completion of investigation would take action in accordance with law.
7. Rule is made absolute in the above terms. No costs.
JUDGE JUDGE
HALWAI
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