AHMEDABAD ELECTRICITY COMPANY LIMITED Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two petitions are filed by Ahmedabad Electricity Company LIMITED ("Company" for short) and Gujarat Electricity Board ("Board" for short) respectively against Union of India and Railway authorities for an appropriate writ, direction and/or order quashing and setting aside certain decisions taken by the respondents by which the authorities sought to recover freight/charges for transporting coal to the petitioner Company/Board on the basis of higher rate of freight (wagon- load rate) being illegal, ultra vires and contrary to law. A prayer is also made for quashing and setting aside certain letters/orders/notifications by which such demand is made being ultra vires and unlawful. They have prayed that the respondent authorities be restrained permanently from demanding and from recovering freight charges at a higher rate.

(2.) To consider and decide the questions raised in both the petitions, few relevant facts may now be stated.

(3.) In the first petition, the case of the petitioner is that it is a company registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1956, having its registered office at Ahmedabad. It has engaged itself in business of generation and distribution of electricity in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar areas. It has established a Power House at Sabarmati which is also a Railway Station on the Western Railway situated on Ahmedabad- Delhi Trunk Route which is in the north of the City of Ahmedabad. According to the Company, the principal raw material used for generation of electricity is coal which is delivered by the Western Railway to the petitioner Company's railway siding located within its premises at the Power House at Sabarmati. The petitioner has been buying its requirement of coal in bulk from Western Coalfields LIMITED Necessary arrangements had been made to send coal to the petitioner's Power House. Initially there were two rates applicable for transport of coal; viz. (1) Smalls (Class 100) rate and (2) Wagon-load (Class 42.5) rate. Subsequently, however, the rates were modified into three classes, viz. (1) Smalls (Class 100), (2) Wagon-load (Class 47.5) and (3) Train-load (Class 42.5).