The judgment established that a tenant can be bound by the regulations for electrical supply, even without a formal contract, and clarified the notice requirements for meter readings under the Indian Electricity Act.

Petitioner is a tenant of the building No. 438 in Ward No. 15 of Kottayam Municipality which belongs to a local Mosque. The former tenant Madhavan Pillai died about 10 years back. The electric connection in the building with Consumer No. 871 is still in the name of the above mentioned Madhavan Pillai. The bills are issued in the name of Madhavan Pillai and they were being paid by the petitioner.

2. Ext. P1 is a provisional invoice card issued by the 1st respondent addressed to K. Madhavan Pillai in January, 1986 fixing the monthly energy charges at Rs. 297/-. Under Ext. P2 dated 24-9-1988 by another provisional invoice card the rate was revised as Rs. 451/- per mensem. According to the petitioner, he had been remitting the amount as per the rate fixed under Exts. P1 and P2 upto December, 1988. Ext. P5 dated 4-1-1989 is a copy of receipt for payment of charges for the month of December, 1988. Thereafter the petitioner received Ext. P4 bill on 16-1-1989 by which he was directed to pay an additional amount of Rs. 21737/- as charges for supply of electricity energy for the period from July 1986 to August 1988. Ext. P4 is also addressed to K. Madhavan Pillai.

3. On receipt of Ext. P4, the petitioner made a representation Ext. P5 dated 17-1-1989 before the 1st respondent. According to the petitioner, under Ext. P5 he had made a request to the 1st respondent to refer the dispute for decision of Electrical Inspector as per S.26(6) of the Indian Electricity Act on the ground that the meter is defective. The petitioner's complaint is that no steps were taken by the 1st respondent as per his request under Ext. P5. He seeks to quash Ext. P4 bill and also prays for a writ of mandamus directing the 1st respondent to dispose of Ext. P5 representation according to law.

4. The petitioner alleges that the demand under Ext. P4 is based on 'sheer guess'. He had been regularly paying electricity charges as per the rate fixed under Exts. P1 and P2. According to the petitioner, no notice for reading of the meter was given to him, meter is defective and reading is also defective. The petitioner would contend that S.26 of the Indian Electricity Act enjoins that the meter reading required under the Act and the Rules are to be done not behind the back of the consumer, but after notice to him. The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner contended that when Ext. P5 representation was received by the 1st respondent, he had a statutory duty to refer the dispute under S.26(6) of the Indian Electricity Act to the Electrical Inspector and it is only after adjudication of the Electrical Inspector any demand could be made against the petitioner for additional charges.

5. A counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of the 2nd respondent. The learned counsel appearing on behalf of respondents takes a preliminary objection that the petitioner has no locus standi to challenge Ext. P4, which is a demand made against one Madhavan Pillai. Even if the. petitioner is to come within the definition of the term "consumer" so long as he has not entered into a contract with the 2nd respondent and substituted himself in the place of the original tenant, the petitioner cannot be treated as a person aggrieved by the demand made against late Madhavan Pillai. The respondent was not aware of the death of Madhavan Pillai and the petitioner becoming the tenant of the building concerned. Admittedly bills were issued in the name of Madhavan Pillai all these years and amounts were also being paid in the name of Madhavan Pillai. Therefore there was no occasion for the respondents to come to know about the death of Madhavan Pillai and the petitioner being inducted as the tenant of the building. Clause 12 of the conditions of supply of Electrical energy deals with the agreement for service connection. Clause 12(1)(a) provides that along with remittance of security deposit as mentioned in para. 11, the consumer should execute the service connection Agreement in Form N