JUDGMENT

R.C. Lahoti, J.-The appellants are all owners of their respective lands, having fish farms thereon, and the respondent is Tamil Nadu Electricity Board. The appellants are enjoying supply of electricity from the respondent-Board.

2. The Tamil Nadu Revision of Tariff Rates on Supply of Electrical Energy Act, 1978 (Tamil Nadu Act No. 1 of 1979) has been enacted to provide for the revision of tariff rates leviable on electrical energy supplied in the State by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board. Section 3 provides that the tariff rates payable to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board by any consumer on the electrical energy supplied by the Board shall be as specified in the Schedule to the Act. Under Section 4, the State Government is empowered to amend the provisions of the Schedule by notification.

3. The relevant part of the Schedule, as published in Tamil Nadu Government Gazette Extraordinary dated March 12, 1990 and with which we are concerned reads as under :-

"Low Tension Tariff V :

Agriculture-

(a) Small Farmers.

(b) Tubewells sunk No charge by Tamil Nadu State Tubewell