Rajiv Roy, J. – The present appeal is directed against the order dated 16.08.2019 passed by the learned Single Judge in CWJC No. 4141 of 2019 by which the relief sought for by the writ petitioners was rejected holding that the petitioner no. 1, the company having gone beyond the rights conferred upon it as a lessee, allowed family of Narayan Prasad Jalan to enter into the lease premises, obtain electricity to run the family business and then after accumulating the energy bills, when the electricity has been disconnected, fresh application for electricity connection has been made showing it to be a separate entity, which the Court is not ready to accept.

2. The facts relating to the present appeal is/are as follows:

3. The appellant no. 1 is a Private Limited Company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 and was earlier contesting the matter through one Sachin Modi, the petitioner no. 2 in the writ petition. He has now been replaced by Krishna Kumar Verma as appellant no. 2 in the present appeal.

4. On 26.03.2018, Sachin Modi submitted an application with the respondent South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (henceforth for short, ‘the SBPDCL’) for grant of electric connection under nonPatna domestic category.

5. The respondents in turn informed on 09.04.2018 that in view of outstanding dues of Rs. 20,40,464/- in the name of Narayan Prasad Jalan, fresh electric connection cannot be granted to the said premises.

6. The case of the appellants-petitioners is/are that the said Narayan Prasad Jalan was also the Proprietor of M/s Saket PVC Pipes Industries Private Limited (henceforth for short, ‘Saket Industries’) and is now no more. There was a certificate proceeding against Narayan Prasad Jalan for recovery of Rs. 20,14,213/- vide certificate case no. 05/2015- 16 but as the same was filed after his death, the certificate case was quashed by the Patna High Court in CWJC no. 17455 of 2015 vide an order dated 01.10.2018.

7. Further, the land on which the electricity connection was granted to ‘the Saket Industries’ was leased out by Sri Krishna Goshala Prabandhak Committee to Narayan Prasad Jalan, the Director of M/s Jalan Polytubes Private Ltd. (henceforth for short, ‘Jalan Polytubes’) vide lease deed dated 30.01.1999 for a period of thirty years from 01.04.1998 to 31.03.2028.

8. Sachin Modi who was petitioner no. 2 in the writ petition made a claim that subsequently, there had been change of hands with the new set of Directors and as such they were legally entitled to the electric connection and only because late Narayan Prasad Jalan was also the Director of Jalan Polytubes beside being the Director of ‘the Saket Industries’, the electricity connection cannot be denied.

9. In support of the case, learned counsel for the petitioner, Mr. Suraj Samdarshi referred to the Gazette notification dated 18.05.2015 of Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission, Patna in which Clause 2 sub-Clause (i) read as follows: –

Amendment in Chapter 4 of the code

Third Proviso of clause 4.1 shall be substituted by the following: –

“(i) If there are arrears of electricity dues against the owner or occupier or tenant of a premises as a consumer, new connection shall not be denied to subsequent owner, occupier or tenant, and the arrear of electricity dues on the premises shall be recovered from the defaulting consumer under the provisions of Bihar and Orissa Public Demands Recovery Act, 1914 or alternately the arrears may also be transferred to another running accounts of the defaulting consumer after adjustment of amount of security deposit and interest there on and giving fifteen days notice.

10. This Court has also taken note of sub-clause (iii) of Clause 2 which read as follows: –

(iii) If there are arrears of electricity dues on a premises, a new connection may be refused to a new applicant on the same premises if the applicant being an individual is an associate or relative as defined in Section 2 and 6 respectively of the Companies Act, 1956 of the defa