This order disposed of two writ petitions concerning Dishonest Abstraction of Electricity bills. The High Court held that genuine disputes requiring evidence must be adjudicated by a Civil Court and not the writ court.
Petition disposed of granting liberty to approach Civil Court.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
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versus B.S.E.S. YAMUNA POWER LIMITED .....Respondent Through: Mr. Manish Srivastava, Mr. Santosh Ramdurg and Mr. Moksh Arora, Advs. 84 + W.P.(C) 5811/2022 SUDHIR SINGH .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Kshitiz Mahipal, Ms. Khairun Nisa, Advs. versus B.S.E.S. YAMUNA POWER LIMITED .....Respondent Through: Mr. Manish Srivastava, Mr. Santosh Ramdurg and Mr. Moksh Arora, Advs.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV O R D E R % 08.07.2024
they are being decided by this common order. The petitioners are also common.
This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 19/07/2024 at 15:16:47
This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 19/07/2024 at 15:16:47
“h) That the analysis of the downloaded electronic billing data revealed that the meter is downloaded with inconsistent and erratic consumption (-1, 8040, 0, 0, 0, 0, 879.6) from 10.02.2021 to 22.08.2021 and the said data was found not in consonance with the Maximum Demand Indicator (MDI) recorded by the meter. Further, the MDI found continuously hanged to 0.00 KW from 15.05.2021 to 22.08.2021 and the reading was also found to be hanged from 15.05.2021 to 22.08.2021 as per SAP reading chart.
i) That the average consumption pattern as per computer module worked out to be 06.58% which was less than the prescribed limit of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC), and consumption recorded prior to meter replacement was inconsistent and the readings was not in consonance with the corresponding MDI recorded, which corroborated with the findings of the lab report.
j) That based on the inspection, analytical meter data and the thirdparty testing lab report, it was evidently established that the petitioner has indulged in the Dishonest Abstraction of Energy, and therefore the Respondent issued show cause notices dated 24.11.2021 and 03.02.2022 to the Petitioner and the Registered Consumer to attend personal hearing on 10.12.2021 and 15.02.2022 respectively, but the Petitioner did not appear for the personal hearing and neither submitted any reply or objection on both the occasions. The copy of the said show cause notices dated 10.12.2021 and 15.02.2022 are marked and annexed herewith as Annexure R-2 (Colly).
k) Since, neither the Petitioner nor the registered user came forward to attend the personal hearings and disputed the aforesaid observations and reports, the Respondent, based on the above said inspection report dated 23.08.2021 and laboratory report dated 01.10.2021, a case of DAE was established and the Respondent passed a detailed speaking order dated 23.02.2022 has already been attached as Annexure P-1 with the present writ petition.”
This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 19/07/2024 at 15:16:47
relevant observations of the said decision are reproduced herein as under:-
“11. However, the present is not the case where any of the exigencies as mentioned in the aforementioned paragraphs are met. More importantly, this is not the case wherein, any fundamental right of the petitioner was violated. Moreover, the petitioner has all the rights to approach the Civil Court. Having considered the nature of the grievance raised in the writ petition, it is found that the alleged violations of Rules and Regulations, if any can also be gone into by the concerned Court. Essentially the issue whether the petitioner was involved in the alleged theft of electricity or not perhaps may not be amenable to adjudication by this court in exercise of the extraordinary powers conferred under Article 226 of the Constitution.
12. Therefore, in view of the observations made hereinabove, the petitioners are granted liberty to approach the Civil Court or avail any other remedy, available as per law, for ventilation of his/her grievances.”
PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV, J
JULY 8, 2024/NG
This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 19/07/2024 at 15:16:47
1 issue framed by the court
Whether the writ court can adjudicate on disputes regarding alleged dishonest abstraction of electricity requiring evidence.
Sudhir Singh
B.S.E.S. Yamuna Power Limited
Purushindra Kumar Kaurav
As recorded by the court registry
A petition under Article 226 of the Constitution asking a High Court to issue a writ against the State or a public authority in a civil matter.
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
