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SABYASACHI BHATTACHARYYA
CESC Limited – Appellant
Versus
Appellate Authority – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya, J.
1. The CESC Ltd, a distribution licensee operating in West Bengal, has preferred the instant writ petition under article 226 of the Constitution of India, challenging an order dated February 8, 2016 passed by the Appellate Authority under Section 127 of the Electricity Act, 2003.
2. Upon an allegation of theft having been made by the CESC, a complaint was lodged against the private respondent Nos. 2 to 5 and a proceeding initiated under Section 135 of the 2003 Act. A parallel proceeding under Section 126 of the 2003 Act was also initiated against the said private respondents. A provisional order of assessment was made and, thereafter, upon hearing the private respondents, a final order of assessment was passed by the Assessing Officer of the CESC on November 11, 2015, thereby holding that the private respondents were guilty of unauthorised use of electricity.
3. The private respondents, being thus aggrieved, preferred an appeal against such final order under Section 127 of the 2003 Act. The Appellate authority, by its order dated February 8, 2016, disposed of the appeal by holding that the assessment made against the present private respondents w
The main legal point established is that the CESC Limited acted within its jurisdiction in conducting parallel proceedings under Sections 126 and 135 of the Electricity Act, 2003, and the petitioner'....
The assessing officer must establish unauthorized use of electricity before issuing a final assessment order, which can be appealed under Section 127 of the Electricity Act, 2003.
Electricity - Unauthorized use of electricity - Assessment of electricity charge contemplated in this section is immediately after disconnection but before lodging complaint and that too for the purp....
Unauthorized use of electricity includes misuse or malpractices while using electricity, and the assessing officer is legally bound to pass a final assessment order after considering objections.
The main legal point established in the judgment is that the lack of communication of assessment orders to the consumer deprived the consumer of the opportunity to contest the orders, rendering any d....
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