Md. Surhab Ali v. The State of Assam and 6 Ors

ORDER Date : 21-06-2023

Heard Mr. U. Dutta, learned counsel for the petitioner as well as Mr. KP Pathak, learned standing counsel for the APDCL appearing for the respondent nos.2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 and Ms. M. Barman, learned Govt. Advocate appearing for the respondent no.1.

¶2By filing this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of Page No.# 3/4 India, the petitioner is seeking a direction upon the respondent authorities for restoration of electricity energy supply to his shop over Bheti No.195(ka) at Moirabari Bi-weekly Market which has been permanently disconnected.

¶3The learned counsel for the petitioner has projected that the electricity supply was disconnected on 27.03.2023 which is disputed by the learned standing counsel for the APDCL because as per his instructions the permanent disconnection of electricity energy supply was made on 22.06.2018.

¶4In view of the consideration that the electricity supply is an essential service, the Court is of the considered opinion that as restoration of essential service is involved in this writ petition issuance of notice on the respondents including private respondent no.7 be dispensed with in view of nature of order proposed to be passed.

¶5Without entering into the dispute as to the date on which electricity supply was disconnected, the Court is inclined to provide that in the event as per the APDCL records, the electricity energy supply has been permanently disconnected, the petitioner would be at liberty to apply for a fresh connection by following all the codal formalities as may be required.

¶6It is also provided that in the event any unpaid energy charges are to be paid for supply which was made previously as consumer no.115000048335, the petitioner would have to liquidate the previous/ arrear dues with applicable surcharge. The petitioner shall also have to deposit the fresh security deposit and in this regard if any adjustment is required to be made with the previous connection, the said adjustment shall also be done by the APDCL. Page No.# 4/4

¶7It is also provided that if there is any inter se dispute between the petitioner and the private respondent no.7, they would be entitled to approach the jurisdictional Court for adjudication of such inter se dispute without involving the APDCL in such litigation.

¶8Accordingly, this writ petition stands disposed of with liberty to the petitioner to apply for fresh connection in terms as indicated above.

¶9As this order has been passed without issuance of notice on the respondents, the respondents are at liberty to apply before this Court for modification of the order, if so advised.

¶10The writ petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010131462023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3561/2023o MD.oSURHABoALIo S/O-oLATEoTURABoALI,oR/O-oVILL-oULUBARI,oWARDoNO.o8,oP.S.oMOIRABARI, DIST.-oMORIGAON,oASSAM,oPIN-o782126 VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo6oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoPRINCIPALoSECRETARY,oPOWERo(ELECTRICITY)oDEPTT.,oD- BLOCK,oASSAMoSECRETARIAT,oDISPUR,oGHY-06 2:THEoASSAMoPOWERoDISTRIBUTIONoCOMPANYoLIMITEDo(APDCL) oREP.oBYoTHEoCHAIRMAN oASSAMoPOWERoDISTRIBUTIONoCOMPANYoLIMITED oBIJULEEoBHAWAN oGHY-01 3:THEoMANAGINGoDIRECTOR oASSAMoPOWERoDISTRIBUTIONoCOMPANYoLIMITED oBIJULEEoBHAWAN oGHY-01 4:THEoCHIEFoEXECUTIVEoOFFICER oMEC oAPDCL oCAR oMORIGAON oASSAM oPIN-o782105 5:THEoASSISTANToGENERALoMANAGER oMORIGAONoELECTRICALoDIVISION oAPDCL Page No.# 2/4 CAR MORIGAON ASSAM PIN- 782105 6:THE SUB-DIVISIONAL ENGINEER LAHORIGHAT ELECTRICAL SUB-DIVISION APDCL (CAR) LAHORIGHAT DIST.- MORIGAON ASSAM PIN- 782127 7:SRI JOY PRAKESH BERNEWAL S/O- LATE KESHAB PRASHAD GUPTA R/O- MOIRABARI P.S. MOIRABARI DIST.- MORIGAON ASSAM PIN- 78212 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. U DUTTA Advocate for the Respondent : SC, APDCL BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KALYAN RAI SURANA