HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE NAGESH BHEEMAPAKA WRIT PETITION No. 9460 OF 2025

O R D E R:

Petitioners claim to be the owners and possessors of the subject houses in Survey Nos. 119, 121, 119/1/10 and 119/1/28 in Ilapur Thanda Village, Ameenpur Mandal, Sanga Reddy District. It is their claim that they constructed the said houses by obtaining permission from Gram Panchayat, Ilapur Thanda and have been paying house tax regularly. They applied for domestic electricity connection to their respective houses, annexing thereto all the required documents, but respondents rejected the same on the ground that the Application lacks proper documents.

2. Learned counsel for petitioner Sri Ramavarapu Chandrasekhar Reddy submits that under Section 43(1) of the Electricity Act, 2003, a distribution licensee has a statutory duty to supply electricity to owner/ occupier of any premises located in the area of supply of electricity of the distribution license, if such owner or occupier of the premises applies for it and correspondingly every owner or occupier has a statutory right to apply for and obtain such supply from the distribution licensee. He cites instances (Writ Petitions No.

10250 and 16552 of 2024) where this Court directed the authorities to grant power connection subject to the applicants fulfilling all other conditions of power supply and connection so given shall be subject to final outcome of Writ Appeal No. 116 of 2013. Learned counsel brings to the notice of this Court the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Chameli Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh (Appeal (Civil) No. 12122 of 1995) and contends that ‘right to shelter does not mean a mere right to a roof over one’s head but the right to all the infrastructure necessary to enable them live and develop as a human being. Hence, he prays that this Court may direct the respondent officials to provide domestic electricity connection to petitioners’

houses’.

3. Learned Standing Counsel for respondent - SPDCL Sri N. Sreedhar Reddy submits that the 6^th respondent vide letter dated 17.03.2022 requested the authorities not to sanction power connection for newly-constructed houses in Ilapur Village of Ameenpur Mandal and report compliance. It is submitted, Applications of petitioners were rejected on the ground that the property on which their houses were constructed is a government property. According to learned Standing Counsel, Writ Appeal concerning the subject issue is pending before the Division Bench wherein it was directed that even the persons in possession of property shall not destroy, damage or change the nature and character of the land. It is also submitted that as per Clause 5.2.2 of General Terms and Conditions of Supply, power supply can be granted / released in favour of owner or tenant in authorized occupation of the premises for which supply is required. Since petitioners could not prove their prima facie title nor could prove that they are in authorized possession of the property, the Applications of petitioners were rejected. Hence, the Writ Petition may be dismissed.

4. During pendency of the Writ Petition, Ilapur Rajagopal Nagar Association and Mohd. Wajid Hussain had taken out I.A.Nos. 2 and 3 of 2025 to implead them as Respondents 7 and 8 respectively to the Writ Petition. Those two Applications were ordered by order dated 16.07.2025.

5. The case of the 7^th respondent – Association which was formed to safeguard the rights and interests of its members - plot owners in Ilapur Rajagopal Nagar Layout, is that Writ Appeals No. 114, 115 and 116 of 2013 filed by the State of Telangana claiming right and title over the land in Survey Nos. 1 to 220 of Ilapur Village, Ameenpur Mandal, Sangareddy District are pending consideration. In the said Appeals, interim orders were passed directing the parties whosoever in possession not to change the nature of the land. In violation of the said order, writ petitioners having no source of right, title, suppressing the said fact, are attempting t