An unauthorised occupant of a premises is not entitled to claim electricity supply as an occupier under S. 43 of the Electricity Act, 2003.

( 1 ) GRIEVANCE of the petitioner is that though he is entitled to get supply of electricity from CESC, it declined to receive his application for supply, since no endorsement was made on it by the owner of the premises. His case is that he has been running a business from a part of the premises, and hence as an occupier of the premises, he is entitled to get supply of electricity in view of provisions of S. 43 of the Electricity act, 2003.

( 2 ) ADVOCATE for the petitioner contends that CESC is under a statutory obligation to give supply to the petitioner, when he is an occupier of the premises. He says that in a writ petition filed in the past by the owner of the premises, the petitioner was added as a respondent, and a prayer was made therein for an order restraining him from running business from the premises. He argues that the owner of the premises, though is entitled to file a suit for eviction of the petitioner, is not entitled to raise any objection regarding supply of electricity to him.

( 3 ) TO my specific query about the capacity in which the petitioner came to occupy a part of the premises, advocate for the petitioner is unable to say anything. He only repeats that his client is an occupier of the premises. He refers me to the trade licence obtained by the petitioner.

( 4 ) IN my view, the trade licence does not make the petitioner an occupier or a lawful occupant of any part of the premises. On payment of requisite fees any one can obtain a trade licence from the corporation. In my opinion, the expression "occupier" mentioned in S. 43 of the Electricity Act, 2003, shall not include an unauthorised occupant of a premises, within the class of persons denoted by it. A person who forces himself into any part of a premises owned by someone else cannot be treated as an occupier oi such premises for the purpose of S. 43 of the Electricity Act, 2003. For being treated as such he must show that at some point oi time in the past he was put into the occupation in question by the owner of the premises.

( 5 ) IN a case where the very entry of an unauthorised occupant into the premises is illegal, there is no question of such occupant enjoying the same statutory right that an occupier enjoys regarding supply of electricity by the licensee. Such person is not entitled to claim a legal right to get supply of electricity from a licensee that is under a statutory obligation to give supply to an owner or occupier of a premises. If a legal or statutory right of such an occupant is also visualised and enforced by a Court, in my view, the provisions of S. 43 of the Electricity Act, 2003 shall suffer an interpretation that is neither meant by them, nor was ever intended by the legislature.

( 6 ) FOR these reasons I hold that as an unauthorised occupant of any part of the premises, the petitioner is not entitled to get any benefit of S. 43 of the Electricity Act, 2003. Hence I dismiss the writ petition. There shall be no order for costs in it.

( 7 ) URGENT certified xerox copy of this judgment and order shall be supplied to the parties, if applied for. Petition dismissed.