Telangana State Southern Power ... vs M/S Axis Clinicals Limited And 2 ...
2021 Latest Caselaw 714 Tel

Item No.6

     THE HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE HIMA KOHLI
                                 AND
      THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE B. VIJAYSEN REDDY


                    WRIT APPEAL No.73 OF 2021

JUDGMENT: (Per the Hon'ble the Chief Justice Hima Kohli)

1.    The appellants are aggrieved by the order dated 18.01.2021,

passed by the learned Single Judge allowing W.P.No.16490 of 2020

filed by the respondent No.1/writ petitioner praying inter alia for

calling upon the appellants to pay the amounts due to it towards

energy injected in the grid of the appellants and banked from the date

of synchronisation i.e., 06.06.2017, as per joint meter reading dated

31.03.2020 in terms of the Solar Power Policy, 2015, the order dated

26.11.2018 passed by the Telangana State Electricity Regulatory

Commission in O.P.No.60 of 2018 and the order dated 02.03.2020

passed in O.P.No.7 of 2020.

2. By the impugned order, the learned Single Judge has allowed

the writ petition filed by the respondent No.1/writ petitioner and

directed the appellants to pay the amounts due to it for the energy

injected into the grid as per the joint meter reading dated 31.03.2020,

in terms of the tariff fixed by the Telangana State Electricity

Regulatory Commission within eight weeks from the date of passing

of the said order. The appellants have also been directed to consider

the application moved by the respondent No.1/writ petitioner for long

term open access without insisting upon it furnishing an undertaking

that it will forego amounts already due for the energy injected into the

grid. Lastly, the appellants have been directed to continue paying the

amounts for the energy injected into the grid till such time as the open

access is not granted to the writ petitioner or an agreement entered

into between the parties.

3. In the course of submissions made by learned counsel for the

parties, it transpires that the request for open access was made by the

respondent No.1/writ petitioner to the appellants as long back as on

04.08.2017, but the same has remained pending at the end of the

appellants in all this while.

4. Mr. R. Vinod Reddy, learned counsel for the appellants assures

the Court that if granted a reasonable time, the appellants shall process

the pending open access request of the respondent No.1/writ petitioner

without insisting that the latter furnish an undertaking in terms of the

letter dated 18.12.2020. Learned counsel for the respondent No.1/writ

petitioner is agreeable to the aforesaid request.

5. Accordingly, with the consent of the parties, the present appeal

is disposed of, along with the pending applications, if any, while

directing the appellants to process the application of the respondent

No.1/writ petitioner for long term open access on or before

05.04.2021. The amounts due and payable to the respondent

No.1/writ petitioner shall be cleared by the appellants on or before

30.04.2021.

6. It is clarified that the aforesaid order is without prejudice to the

right of the appellants to raise a demand for reimbursement for any

inadvertent power pumped into the grid during the period of

synchronisation, which as per the undertaking furnished by the

respondent No.1/writ petitioner, will be free of cost to the appellants.

The demand in this regard may be raised by the appellants on or

before 30.04.2021, with the exact amount for which waiver of cost is

sought, mentioned in terms of the undertaking given by the

respondent No.1/writ petitioner. If the same is accepted, then the

respondent No.1/writ petitioner shall give a set off to the appellants

for the said amount.

_________________ HIMA KOHLI, CJ

______________________ B. VIJAYSEN REDDY, J

05.03.2021 Lur/pln