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BIREN VAISHNAV
J. B. Chemicals And Pharmaceuticals Limited – Appellant
Versus
Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Limited – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
1. All these petitions raise a common question – Whether a distribution licensee can compel a consumer of electricity who has separate connections as an HT Consumer can be compelled to merge his connections as one by operation of Clause 4.1.17 and/or Clause 4.28 of the Electricity Code, 2005. The other consequential question in addition to this that arises in some petitions is whether it is open for the Electricity Company to issue notices for payment of tariff on the basis of consumption of energy calculated as if merger is in force and assess amounts beyond a period of three years.
2. Facts of each Special Civil Application are set out as under:
Special Civil Application No. 17582 of 2017
2.1 Prayers in the petition read as under:
Supplementary bills can be raised for mistakes, but disconnection for non-payment after two years is prohibited under Section 56(2) of the Electricity Act, 2003.
The court established that an electricity company can issue revised bills for bona fide mistakes in billing, reinforcing the consumer's obligation to pay based on accurate meter readings.
The right to recover electricity dues through civil suits is not barred by the two-year limitation for disconnection proceedings under Section 56(2) of the Electricity Act.
The court established that while disconnection for non-payment is limited to two years, the right to recover amounts through civil proceedings remains intact.
Electricity Act mandates separate supply for lawful tenants without enforcing previous consumer's dues, as per modern statutory protections.
A distribution licensee cannot recover electricity dues from a new owner without establishing a nexus with the previous owner, and the requirement for a 'No Dues Certificate' is directory.
A licensee cannot exercise the power of electricity disconnection for the recovery of arrears that are more than two years old, unless such sums were continuously shown as recoverable in previous bil....
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