MANVENDRA NARAIN AGRAWAL Vs. BIHAR STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) HEARD Mr. Navniti Prasad Singh, learned Counsel appearing in support of the writ petition and Mr. Vinay Kirti Singh, learned Counsel for the Board.

(2.) IN this case the Board seems to have acted with gross irregularity as a result of which the petitioner who is a domestic consumer with a load of 1 KW was subjected to great harassment. The meter installed at the residence of the petitioner went out of order and the Board started billing him on an average of 113 units per month. According to the petitioner, the Board had taken a very high figure for average billing and the actual consumption of the petitioner was much lower. As a result of the average billing outstanding dues against the petitioner amounted to around Rs. 5000/- by February, 1997. At that stage being threatened with the disconnection of line he made an ad-hoc payment of Rs. 3000/-. He also purchased a meter at his own cost and after it was passed by the Board, the meter was installed on 8.3.1997. Notwithstanding the installation of a new meter and the repeated protests made by . the petitioner, the Board continued to raise bills on the basis of the average of 113 units per month and it was only after three and a half years that someone from the Board came to take the meter reading in June/July, 2000. At that time the meter recorded consumption of 2761 units. IN the next bill issued by the Board, apart from the arrears accumulating as a result of the average billings, further charges for consumption of energy for the period March, 1997 to June/July 2000 were levied all over again on the basis of the meter reading.

(3.) MR. Navniti Prasad Singh, Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the revised account was correct to the extent of raising bills on an average of 67 units per month from October, 1996 to June, 2000 and thereafter on the basis of the actual meter readings but the delayed payment surcharge was added in the revised calculation also and it was by the addition of delayed payment surcharge that the amount of Rs. 7877.30 paise was arrived at as the charges leviable from the petitioner.