The main legal point established in the judgment is that the market value test is not the sole method for assessing damages, and the compensation payable for the destruction of fruit bearing or yielding trees caused by electric supply lines should be based on the present worth ascertained from the productive life of the trees.

S. VELU PILLAI, J. :- These civil revision petitions which have been referred to a Division Bench, and others which are posted before us, have arisen out of orders passed by District Judges under S. 16 of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, settling the compensation payable under S. 10 proviso (d) of that Act, for damage caused to owners of immovable properties, in taking electric supply lines across their properties, in exercise of the powers conferred by S. 51 of the Indian Electricity Act, 1910, or by S. 42 of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948.

The Kerala State Electricity Board, to be referred to as the Board, which was constituted on April, 1957, and in whom, the liability to pay compensation is now vested, was not a party to some of these civil revision petitions. At the time they were referred, Shri K.V. Suryanarayana Iyer, appearing for the Board agreed, that it may be impleaded as a party, and accordingly the referring order itself directed its impleadment. At the hearing of these and the other civil revision petitions now before us, Shri K.V. Suryanarayana Iyer, appeared for the Board and we hereby order, that the Board be recorded as a party respondent in all the civil revision petitions which are before us, and in which it is not already a party.

We also ordered notice on these revision petitions to the learned Advocate General, and the learned Government Pleader has appeared for him. These and other civil revision petitions posted before us, raise a common question as to the principles to be adopted in settling Compensation payable under S. 10 proviso (d) of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885. In this judgment, we record our answer to the question raised, by laying down certain principles.

2. The relevant part of S. 51 of the Indian Electricity Act, 1910, may be extracted as follows :-

".....the State Government may, by order in writing, for the placing of electric supply-lines, appliances and apparatus for the transmission of energy...... ...confer upon any public officer, licensee or any other person engaged in the business of supplying energy to the public under this Act, subject to such conditions and restrictions if any as the State Government may think fit to impose and to the provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, any of the powers which the telegraph-authority possesses under that Act, with respect to the placing of telegraph-lines and posts for the purposes of a telegraph established or maintained by the Government or to be so established or maintained."

Though in the large majority of the cases before us, the powers referred to above were exercised, before the Board was constituted, it is useful to quote S. 42 of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 also, as in some of the cases, they were exercised by the Board itself. The material part of S. 42 of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 is as follows :

"..... the Board shall have, for placing of any wires poles, wall-brackets, stays, apparatus and appliances for the transmission and distribution of electricity........all the powers which the telegraph authority possesses under Part III of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 with regard to a telegraph established or maintained by the Government or to be so established or maintained."

These enactments have thus defined the powers to be exercised, in terms of the provision in the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, which is S. 10 proviso (d), which reads. :-

Section 10. "The telegraph authority may, from time to time, place and maintain a telegraph line under, over, along or across, and posts in or upon any immovable property :

Provided that ................

(d) in the exercise of the powers conferred by this section, the telegraph authority shall do as little damage as possible, and when it has exerised those powers in respect of any property other than that referred to in clause (c), shall pay full compensation to all persons interested for any damage sustained by them by reason of the exercise of those powers."

Section 16 o