BULBULITALA COLD STORAGE Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this petition the petitioners challenge the validity of four orders passed on 22 May 1995 by the Electrical Inspector, West Bengal, by which the electricity meter of the petitioner has been found to be 66.6 per cent slow. As a consequence of such finding, four electricity bills raised on the petitioners for the months of December of the year 1993 and April, September-October and November of the year 1994 were directed to be revised.

(2.) The petitioners business involve operating a cold storage, in respect of which the meter was installed. The petitioner no. 1 is a company incorporated under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956 and the petitioner no. 2 is a director of that company. The petitioner no. 1 and the West Bengal State Electricity Board (the predecessors of the respondent no. 4) had executed an agreement for supply of electrical energy. The agreement was executed on 14 January 1988, in pursuance of which electricity was being supplied to the petitioners. Clause 27 of this agreement, a copy of which has been made Annexure P-1 to the writ petition contained an arbitration clause:-

(3.) There has been a pending dispute as regards the correctness of their electricity meter from the month of November 1993. The origin of the dispute was the monthly bills from that month, which the petitioners found inflated. Initially, the petitioners requested the Chief Electrical Inspector to remove defect in the said meter. In the Writ Petition, it has been pleaded that such request was made to the Chief Electrical Inspector (respondent no. 2) as an Arbitrator.