HIND AGRICULTURE FARM Vs. BIHAR STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This application arises out of a claim made by the Petitioners under Clause 13 of the High Tension Agreement for proportionate remission in the Annual Minimum Guarantee and the Maximum Demand Charges for the hours of non-supply of electricity during the period 1978-79 to 1991-92.

(2.) It appears that initially the authorities refused to entertain the Petitioners' claim for proportionate remission on the grounds that the Petitioners failed to furnish the details regarding the day-to-day disruptions in the supply of electricity and that the claim had not been filed in the prescribed forms. The Petitioners admitted not having maintained any record of the hours of non-supply of electricity for the period in question and, hence, their inability to produce any record maintained by them. They however, claimed that they were entitled to the same remission as allowed in the case of one M/s Ganga Solvent on the plea that both the H.T. consumers (that is, Petitioner No. 1 and the aforesaid M/s Ganga Solvent) were situated within the same premises, had the same contract load of 100 KVA and received their supply of electrical energy from the same feeder.

(3.) Having failed to get any order on their claim for remission the Petitioners came to this Court earlier in C.W.J.C. No. 3006 of 1994 which was disposed of by a Bench by order, dated 08.04.91 (copy at Annexure-8). In that case it was admitted before this Court that though the Petitioners were unable to produce any record maintained by them regarding the hours of non-supply of electricity during the period in question, such records were maintained by the Bihar State Electricity Board on its own and as statutorily required. It will be useful to reproduce here the directions given by this Court in that case: