IMPORTANT POINT
Condition 9 in the application form cannot be relied upon by Electricity Board to claim arrears of previous owner/occupants/tenants from the new applicant for release of new connection unless there are any specific rules or regulations to that effect.

R.S. Mongia, President—This is an appeal by the Electricity Board against the judgment and order of District Disputes Redressal Forum, Amritsar dated May 16, 2006 by which the complaint of the complainant was allowed in the following terms:

“When the facts of the present case are viewed ill the light of the law laid down in the authorities discussed above, it becomes manifestly clear that opposite party cannot deny the release of electric connection to the complainant who has proved himself to be a tenant in this property on the strength or a rent note. We further hold that the complainant is not bound to pay the outstanding arrears in respect of the electricity consumed by erstwhile occupiers of the premises. We, therefore, partly allow the complaint and the opposite party is directed to release the electric connection or the complainant under rules and regulations i.e. after charging requisite tee etc. within a period of 15 days from the date of receipt of the copy of the orders. Opposite party would also pay Rs. 1000/- as litigation expenses to the complainant. Entire amount would be paid by the opposite party to the complainant within a period of one month from the date of receipt of the copy of the orders by way of bank draft or account payee’s cheque failing which proceedings u/s 27 of the Consumer Protection Act would be initiated against the opposite party. Copies of the orders be furnished to the parties free of costs: File is ordered to be arranged, indexed and consigned to record room.”

2. Brief facts may be noticed:

Complainant Sham Bahti is a tenant in a part or property bearing No. 593/III-18. Inside Akahara Chatte Wala situate at Mahna Singh Road. Amritsar @ Rs. 400/- p.m. The landlord is Mahant Gopal Dass Chela Mahant Bhagwan Dass. The tenancy started on 19.4.2005. The complainant had applied to the Electricity Board for independent electricity connection in the tenanted premises and had deposited the requisite initial charges for processing the application. This application was made somewhere in April 2005. The complainant was refused the electricity connection on the ground that there are certain other connections in the same premises, of which the tenanted premises is a part. The other electricity connections are bearing account numbers GT44/0063.

GT44/0067, GT44/0110, GT44/0111 and GT83/0030SP. These electricity connections are in the names of Baldev Raj, Raj Kumar Khanna, Tarsem Kaur, Budh Singh and Azad Milling & Dying. The ground for refusal of the electricity connection to the complainant was that against the aforesaid five electricity connections which were in the same premises of which the tenanted premises was a part unless the complainant paid the outstanding arrears against those account numbers the electricity connection could not be released to him. The defaulting amounts, i.e. Rs. 337/-, Rs. 18,489/-, Rs. 5,822/-, Rs. 4,314/- and Rs. 61,265/-, pertained to different connections. The District Forum was of the view that there is no rule or regulation on the basis of which the Electricity Board can ask the arrears of other connections to be paid by the applicant applying for a new electricity connection in the same premises. Reliance was placed by the District Forum on the decision of this Commission in Punjab State Electricity Board v. Rattan Chand,1 and a decision of the West Bengal State Commission in West Bengal State Electricity Board v. Jyotimoy Mondal.2

3. Learned counsel for the respondent here also cited a judgment of the Apex Court in Isha Marbles v. Bihar State Electricity Board,3 1995 (2) SCC 648 that the arrears of the previous owner cannot be foisted on a new owner unless there are any specific Rules or Regulations to that effect. In other words if a property owned by ‘A’ is purchased by ‘B’ and ‘B’ applies for a new connection in the premises purchased by him, then he cannot be asked by the Electricity Board to pay the arrears or any other arrears qua ‘A’, the original owner,