REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

I.A. NO. 5

IN

CIVIL APPEAL NO. 2630 OF 1982

Bihar State Electricity Board

… Appellant

Vs.

The Patna Electric Supply Co.

Ltd. & Ors.

Respondents

O R D E R

1.

After the respondent No.1, Patna Electric

Supply Company Limited (PESCO), was taken over

by the appellant, Bihar State Electricity Board

(BSEB), certain disputes arose regarding

payment of compensation by BSEB to PESCO in

respect of the assets of PESCO. This resulted

in litigation and ultimately in C.A. No.2630 of

1982 this Court, while granting leave, directed

that BSEB would pay to PESCO the purchase price

on the basis of book-value in accordance with

the provisions of the Indian Electricity Act,

1910. Since payments were not made by BSEB to

PESCO in terms of the said directions, PESCO

filed I.A. No.5 for appropriate directions to

be given to BSEB in this regard.

2.

On 8.1.2005, after noting that what was payable

by BSEB to PESCO was the book-value and not the

market value of the assets of PESCO, this Court,

after taking into consideration the submissions of

the respective parties, came to the conclusion that

the net amount of compensation payable to PESCO

worked out to

135.45 lakhs. Out of the said

amount, a sum of

99.72 lakhs had already been paid

by BSEB to PESCO, leaving a balance amount of

35.74 lakhs payable by BSEB to PESCO. It was also

noted that under the directions of this Court the

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balance amount of

35.74 lakhs had been paid by

BSEB to the Bank of India to liquidate the dues of

PESCO.

3.

In addition to the above, a further sum of

36.59 lakhs was shown as liability in the accounts

of PESCO. It was noted that it was not the case of

BSEB that the said amount had been paid by it to

the aforesaid Bank. On the other hand, it was

noted that it was PESCO’s case that this amount

had been paid by it to the Bank of India and in

support thereof a ‘No Objection Certificate’ dated

21.3.2001 issued by the Bank in favour of PESCO had

been placed on record. On the basis of the

aforesaid calculations and the submissions made on

behalf of the respective parties, I.A. No.5 was

disposed of with the following observations :

(1) The

amount

of

consumer

dues

calculated while arriving at the book

value of the assets of PESCO cannot be

questioned by BSEB at this stage;

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(2) PESCO is entitled to the sum of

Rs.36.59 lakhs provided it has made the

payment on that account to the Bank; and

(3) PESCO is entitled to interest in the

manner above stated on filing requisite

material on record along with an affidavit

showing payment of interest.

4.

Thereafter, the matter was taken up on several

occasions to enable PESCO to prove that such

payment had actually been made by PESCO to the Bank

of India on account whereof the said amount was

shown as a liability in PESCO’s accounts. On

26.3.2009, the Bank of India, Kolkata Main Branch,

was directed to supply the statements relating to

the cash credit account maintained by PESCO for the

period commencing from 1973 till the closure of the

account. Leave was given to the appellant to

respond to the same once the statements were made

available by the Bank. Ultimately, on 30.9.2010 it

was submitted on behalf of the Bank that the

information, as was required to be given, had been

filed by way of separate affidavits and leave was

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also granted to file an additional affidavit to

place on record certain other documents.

5.

The first affidavit affirmed on behalf of the

Bank on 31.10.2006 mentions a final settlement

arrived at between the Bank and PESCO, to the tune

of

45.93 lakhs and with the interest accrued

thereupon the amount became

48.34 lakhs.

According to the Bank records, the said amount was

paid by PESCO between 15.1.2001 to 19