S K MAHESHWARI Vs. BSES YAMUNA POWER LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The legality and justification of an electricity bill for the sum, of Rs1,37,494/- issued by the Respondent BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (hereafter variously, ?BSES? Ltd and "the utility'`) has been questioned, in these writ proceedings.

(2.) The facts necessary for the purpose of deciding the dispute are that the petitioner, an electricity consumer, carrying on business in printing, was issued with the impugned bill, whereby the utility demanded an amount of Rs. 1,37,994/-.

(3.) The basic facts are not in controversy. The utility does not allege, either in its return in these proceedings, or during the course of hearing, that the petitioner was guilty of indulging in any theft of electricity or "dishonest abstraction of electricity" falling within the description under Sections 126 and 135 of the Electricity Act, 2003. Yet, it alleges that although the meter was not tampered, its clock (time setting) was faulty. At one stage, it half heartedly alleged that the petitioner consumer had utilized magnetic devices, which distorted the true reading. However the main ground urged, is that the electricity meter truly reflected the consumption, which was to the tune of 373 KW, as against a sanctioned load of 75 KW.