TAPASH KUMAR DEV SARMAH Vs. APPELLATE AUTHORITY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) 6 (six) petitioners have joined together in filing the present writ petition. Their principal grievance, as projected, is that though they have preferred an appeal before the Appellate Authority under Sec. 127 of the Electricity Act, 2003, the appeal has not been heard. The petitioners also claimed to have deposited an amount of Rs.10,86,490.00 (Rupees Ten Lakh Eighty Six Thousand Four Hundred Ninety) along with the appeal. Hence, this writ petition.

(2.) Before going to the dispute which has arisen for adjudication, the background facts of the case may be noted down in the following manner.

(3.) The petitioners have formed a partnership firm in the name and style of M/s Star Enterprise and had started a business. In course of their business, they had taken an electricity connection from the APDCL authorities. It is the case of the petitioner that on 22/12/2021, some officials of the APDCL had visited the premises of the petitioners and found some anomalies and also some tempering in the electricity connection. It was detected that the petitioners were consuming around 150 KWs of electricity whereas the local villagers consumed 100 KWs of electricity from the same transformer. Accordingly the APDCL authorities came to a finding of malpractice involving test of electricity for which Rs.84,49,581.00 (Rupees Eighty Four Lakh Forty Nine Thousand Five Hundred and Eighty One) was imposed.