S.C.Misra, J.

1. The petitioner, the Patna Electric Supply Co., Ltd., is a company incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, having its registered office at 14 Old Court House Street. Calcutta, and holds the interest as an assignee of the Patna Dinapore Electric Licence 1923 granted by the Government of Bihar and Orissa under the Indian Electricity Act, 1910 , to Messrs. Octavius Steel & Co. Ltd. for supplying electrical energy in the area specified under the licence. The area specified in the original licence was modified and extended from time to time and is included within the jurisdiction of opposite party No. 1, the Patna Municipal Corporation. The company laid down and placed supply lines for conveyance and transmission of energy under the provisions of S. 3 of the Electricity Act. The work was executed within the period of three years as required by the schedule to the Act. The licensee? was required first. in terms of paragraph 6 of the licence, that, for the purposes of Clauses V, VI, VII and VIII of the schedule to the Act, the supply of energy was to be compulsory only within the limits of the area administered by the Patna Administration Committee, apart from